The Hunted ((Rewrite))
by MangaMan250
Summary: After losing trust in Konoha, Naruto and Sasuke escape the village to find their own path, fighting for their lives and gaining power for themselves. With multiple run-ins with Konoha, a vendetta against a certain snake and Zabuza's wishes to uphold, how will Naruto and Sasuke survive when its them vs the world? Not Yaoi! Fem Haku!
1. Konoha Blues

Hey everyone! I once again decided to give this story a rewrite / makeover after looking at my recent stuff like House guest then back to this, It just really bothered me that this story wasn't the best it could be. Hopefully I've been able to improve it, especially grammatically, as there was just commas everywhere causing the story to be incredibly broken up and almost painful to read... still i'm happy with the way it turned out!

* * *

Chapter 1- Konoha Blues

The blonde sighed miserably while slumping down in his poor excuse for a chair. He sat there in the silent kitchen of his dull, one bed room apartment while idly scratching the back of his head, still far too sleepy to be properly awake just yet. He kept his cerulean eyes closed not quite ready to face the day. The young Uzumaki, in his daze had decided on something, today wasn't going to be like every other day. He had a lucky feeling that something important was going to happen.

He didn't know what brought on this premonition, still, it filled him with a sense of relief as a cheeky grin washed over his face, honestly he was sick of the way the village treated him, it didn't make sense to him, it wasn't as if he had attacked them or anything, and his pranks were harmless enough.  
' _Well...I know the real reason they treat me so badly...mhhh well there's no use on thinkin' bout this stuff!'_ Naruto thought sadly but managed to pick himself up, today he was going to try to avoid being beat up by the villagers again.

First off he'd set out and grab some ramen from Ichiraku's, that was always a great way to start the day, well at least in Naruto's mind, the friendly company and warm welcoming he always received really kick started his mood, the small stall always managed to feel like home away from home. Then was his training, Naruto had been pushing himself for quite a while now and today would be no different, he had a set routine to follow after all. So far the blonde had mainly based his training around taijutsu, fitness and informing himself on other areas such as ninjutsu, healing techniques and how to care for wounds or sickness and then his favourite subject, battle tactics.

As he happily indulged in such thoughts, he absent-mindedly knocked over his early morning cereal, it only took milliseconds for his eyes to snap open and witness the disaster as the bowl clattered and landed on his lap. With a heavy sigh of defeat he looked down at the remains of his breakfast that covered him as the bowl rolled away from the crime scene.

" _Great…so much for being lucky!"_ He huffed with irritation; it was always easier to annoy him on a morning. Naruto quickly moved to clean up, deciding he wouldn't let it get the better of him, he was determined that today would be a good day in one way or another. Being a seven year old child the blonde was still rather optimistic in his day to day life, no matter the hardships, everything would get better eventually; in fact the boy didn't think they could get much worse, so things could only improve.

The young Uzumaki casually rolled his shoulders in circles, attempting to remove the dull ache from the excessive training that the Kyuubi tortured him with day in and day out, he was more than thankful for his tenant and personal tutor but he had to admit the gain sure came with a lot of pain, not that he wasn't used to that. He had to admit, even he was startled that the Kyuubi was so different to how the legends made out but soon came to terms with it when he realised the villagers treated him badly with no good reason even though he was far from what they imagined him to be, maybe it was the same for the Kyuubi?

At first the training was mostly educational, focusing on developing the boy's mind and intelligence rather than his brute strength or stamina, he was an orphan after all and there were a lot of things he didn't understand, things like dieting and nutrition is important at a young age and there's no way Naruto could have known how to properly care for himself. Kyuubi helped to clear up some of the basics then went on to teaching him at what the demon considered would be academy level, despite Naruto's pleading claims that the kids from the academy were never pushed so hard.

After a while Naruto had begun to grasp tactics and strategy, though he stubbornly didn't apply himself to studying all that much at first, the blonde had shown that his battle intelligence was nothing to be made light of. In the end Kyuubi managed to settle him into a routine of studying, her cunning plan was to exaggerate just how strong that studying such things would make him, once the young Uzumaki figured he'd be gaining strength he took to the books without hesitation, still it was partly true that the knowledge would make him powerful.

Now Naruto had been forced into hellish regime, initially he couldn't fight his eagerness to learn and was far too excited by the thought of learning a new technique, the blonde had been all too easy to win over for the fox. It was then that the Kyuubi had taught him one of the many forbidden techniques that it had witnessed during its time, though it was difficult to recall the seals for most of forbidden arts, this jutsu had but one hand seal.

The shadow clone jutsu worked well with Naruto's attributes after all, it would be stupid to not have him learn it, at least the kyuubi thought so. Then it happened. Kyuubi told him of the shadow clone training programme and the gates of hell opened for the young blonde. Naruto would spend hours working out, sparring and running laps to build his stamina, all of this being alongside his clone comrades of course. The gains were high but unfortunately so were the aches and pains.

Thankfully some of the stubborn stiffness soon subsided leaving the blonde to laze comfortably on his old brown couch, it was still too early for him to begin his busy day. He lazily sprawled out, making himself comfortable on the aging brown sofa,  
" _There's still plenty of time 'till I gotta set off."_ He happily mused with a grin while he laid on the soft, comfy couch, it was still only early morning and the sun had only just finished rising though he could tell it was going to be another beautiful summers day in Konoha, birds sang happily by his window while gentle fluffy clouds painted the tranquil deep blue sky, no wonder he felt so good today. Letting himself relax further, his hand behind his head serving as a make shift pillow, he fell deep into thought.

It was strange he mused with nostalgia, how as a four year old, he was able to meet the giant fox demon that resided with in him. Naruto still remembered his first encounter with Kyuubi vividly; after narrowly escaping a violent crowd of villagers who had angrily chased him through the entirety of Konoha, he had managed to securely seal himself in his apartment. After making sure he was safe, the young blonde proceeded to pass out on the tired brown sofa that decorated his lonely living room.

Then he had woken up enveloped by a deep darkness forcing him to reach out his hands blindly in order to feel around for something he could use as a guide, the sound of dripping water that eerily echoed around the place seemed to be coming from all directions, intimidating him nearly as much as the old, moss covered sewer walls that he leant against. To his instant displeasure, he completely soaked his tiny feet as he trudged through the unpleasant, murky water below him, he didn't know where he was, and definitely had no interest in staying.

"H-Hello? ..." A confused young voice muttered weakly, not expecting a reply, he looked around the eerie environment that he found himself in, the blonde had no clue how he'd managed to get here when just a moment ago he was peacefully laid on his comfortable couch after escaping the villagers.  
"Is anyone here?..." He grimly called out again in mild confusion, by now he was beginning to sweat nervously, the feeling of desperation suddenly washing over him as he began to tremble in fear. He wanted to go home.

His ocean blue eyes widened in alarm as he heard a terrifying grumble. Whatever had made that sound must've been huge, even the walls around him vibrated from the low growling noise. Naruto gulped with fear, he really didn't want to investigate what was at the end of the hallways.  
 _'Am I dead? …'_ He sadly wondered, now much to afraid to speak aloud in case he was heard.  
" **Come here boy.** " A deep booming voice ordered, Naruto shuddered as he realized that, whatever it was, was addressing him, it wanted to see him, he gulped again, there was no way he could listen to it!

Naruto suddenly glared down at his feet as they took one step after another against his will, he had no idea what he was doing, cold sweat raced down his cheeks as he realised he was no longer in control, his shocked blue eyes began to water as tears threatened to form from fear alone,  
 _'S-Stop! If I go there I'll really die!'_ He desperately pleaded in his head, only hoping that his body would listen to him, he had never felt so afraid in all his life, all he could think of was his impending slow, painful, death.

To the blonde's relief he suddenly stopped. In his confusion, the young Uzumaki slowly looked up as the overwhelming presence he now felt caused shivers to run down his spine, his eyes danced with fear as they slowly took in the enormous golden bars in front of him, he paled in terror, where was this place? To Naruto they looked solid and impenetrable, that is until he saw the thing they were imprisoning.

" **Hmph. To be contained in something so small, I should be offended."** The kyuubi spoke calmly, though to a tiny, terrified Naruto it seemed as if the tailed beast was aggressively bellowing due to the sounds echoed around the room at a deafening volume.  
"W-Why am I here?" Naruto questioned bravely, hoping that the bars would at least stop the colossal beast from ripping him apart and killing him on the spot.

" **It would appear you've lost consciousness.** " The giant nine tailed fox stated flatly while swishing its nine mighty tails in a bored, casual manner, the fox leaned closer to the golden bars of the cage, the great kitsune studied the small infant in its presence with hardened gaze.  
" **Do you realise who I am? I am the Kyuubi, a powerful demon that once threatened to destroy your home. Do you not fear me?** " The enormous beast gently asked the young blonde that had entered her holding cell, a look of confusion fell over the blonde at Kyuubi's question.

"Destroy my home? Why?! Why did you wanna destroy Konoha?" Naruto angrily replied, a little confused by the demon's questions. To his surprise the kyuubi seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before answering.  
" **Do you not care that I destroyed most of your village?** " It slyly taunted, a feral grin blessing its features, causing the blonde to scratch his head in a desperate attempt to help him think.  
"Well…why did you wanna attack Konoha? Did they try to hurt you or something? They try to hurt me sometimes. I hate it!" Naruto answered innocently, he cautiously peered up at the colossal beast with all the determination he could muster, the poor blonde could only imagine he was having another nightmare.

Kyuubi slowly closed its fire red eyes, as if processing the blondes answer; it wasn't what the powerful demon had been expecting to say the least, the nine tailed fox growled in mild defeat, the sound reverberating around its prison and throughout the sewers. Naruto continued to patiently look up at the huge monster like creature, slightly less afraid than before as it began to softly speak.

" **I had no intentions of attacking this place Kit; a man with those damn cursed eyes cast a genjutsu upon me…Madara Uchiha.** " Kyuubi explained gently with its eyes closed as if regretting its actions that fateful night, to the beast's surprise a humming noise resounded throughout her cell.  
"But doesn't that mean that it wasn't your fault?" Naruto wondered aloud, he didn't really get it, sure he wasn't the brightest child around but anyone could see that the Kyuubi at least felt bad for the way it had acted.

The nine tails suddenly opened its crimson eyes in surprise, slowly it studied the blonde, looking at the boy with interest, a human with his way of thinking was rare, a toothy smile spread across the kitsunes features.  
" **It doesn't matter who's fault it was. It happened. Now I'm trapped here till the day you die.** " Kyuubi angrily scoffed, the fox let out a hollow chuckle that boomed around the sewers, frightening the young blonde even more, still he wished there was something he could do, the kitsune didn't seem so bad to him, and to be trapped in a place like this seemed awful!

"You said that this is inside of me…right?..."Naruto quietly asked with a slight amount of disbelief while looking around the place then continued, he hated this place, it was terrifying to him.  
"Does it have to look so…depressing?" Naruto questioned with embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, surely inside his own mind should be much friendlier than this horrible setting.  
"I guess you probably don't like it in here huh?" he wondered aloud, not quite sure where he was going with any of this.

" **Yes, this is in your mind, you can make it appear however you want it too. Look around you kit, of course I don't like it in here, it's an over sized kennel stuck in a sewer!** " The Kyuubi raged at the seemingly idiotic question letting out a heavy hearted sigh at the thought of residing in such a place for the rest of its days. The feeling of being trapped behind a cage like some common street animal had greatly injured the huge beast's pride, despite all of its power it would be stuck here to rot forever.

"Hmm…then…like this?" Naruto wondered, softly speaking aloud as he closed his eyes tight while trying to picture something. As he did the disgusting sewer walls began to dissolve, fading into nothing, luscious green grass grew from the water below, tall trees reached up from the ground to the heavenly blue sky above, lazy white fluffy clouds decorated it along with the new glistening sun that shone down on the fresh forest clearing and nature provided a calming wildlife soundtrack. Not all of the water had disappeared, instead a crystal clear tranquil lake could be seen in the distance, its trickling tide only added to the gentle sounds of nature that surrounded the boy and the beast.

Naruto suddenly opened his eyes and immediately laughed happily with the results, he took in his surroundings with a cheeky fox like grin, and his gentle blue eyes held a deep warmth,  
"This is just like the place that old man Hokage took me for a picnic!" he bellowed happily. To the Kyuubi's horror, the great demon seemed to be shrinking in size. The cage sealing it had vanished from view, and now the fox was now only around eight feet tall.

" **What the? ... What is this?"** Kyuubi asked irritated, wiggling its paw angrily, but the new golden bracelet around it refused to shake loose from its front paw, it looked like an ancient accessory.  
" **This is the seal?"** It asked rhetorically then began looking around at its new surroundings with wide fiery eyes, even for a thousand year old beast, it was impressed by the sudden change of scenery.  
" **You did this for…me?"** The nine tails questioned delicately, somewhat taken back and confused by the young blonde's kind actions, could humans really act this way?

The young blonde laughed nervously, showing a foxy grin to the great beast before speaking  
"Well…we live together so, maybe we could be friends…" He let out another nervous laugh until he saw the now much smaller fox's tails swishing around happily, it made him want to grab them,  
" **Friends? …You want to be friends…with me?** " The fox asked incredulously looking at the small boy with a tiny but hopeful smile, Kyuubi hadn't spoken to anyone in four long years.

To the kitsune's surprise she was soon engulfed in a hug from the small boy who was now laughing and giggling merrily for a reason that was unknown to the great demon.  
" **Y-Yes…well, t-there's a good human…** " Kyuubi awkwardly wrapped up the boy in one of its tails, effectively returning the loving hug as it recovered from the somewhat embarrassing moment. To her surprise the boy just snuggled against the tail wrapped around him.

"When I grow up I want to be the Hokage! Oi!…Kyuubi? You must be really strong right? You must know something about ninjas!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm leaving the kyuubi pondering something.  
" **Hmmm…well as it were, I was in fact sealed inside of a human woman; she reached a high rank as a ninja…besides who do you think I am? I once knew the sage of six paths you know."** The kyuubi declared with a certain amount of pride clear in her voice, her tails dancing around her with joy.  
"What!? That's awesome! You have to help me get strong!" Naruto pleaded childishly while wrapping the fox up in an even tighter hug, he didn't feel so lonely with Kyuubi around him. **  
**" **I shall do my best kit."** Kyuubi replied seriously, feeling a sense of duty almost,  
 _"_ _ **No one has graced me with kindness in so many years after all."**_ Kyuubi thought solemnly but didn't let it show to the young blonde held in her embrace.

"What's a kit? My name is Naruto" The young blonde asked confused by the nickname, the kyuubi just giggled in response to his innocent behaviour, she had no idea human children could be cute,  
" **A kit is a fox cub."** The great beast taught, causing Naruto to hum in thought with a cheeky grin,  
"Does that mean you'd be like a fox mom?" He asked laughing to himself as he did  
" **I suppose it would, yes."** She answered happily while letting out a small chuckle of her own.  
" **It's decided, I shall make you the strongest ninja possible, my container shall be feared throughout the land as a powerful force to be reckoned with.** " Kyuubi seriously declared to the young boy that was currently snuggled against her, she felt a warmth pass through her that she had longed for, the loneliness of the past years seemed to slowly subside as she lovingly cared for the young blonde.  
 **  
**Thanks to his reminiscing, time had unfortunately escaped the blonde's attention, like on most mornings, leaving Naruto hurriedly pulling on his black, high collared jacket. Its burnt orange trim was the only eye catching feature other than the silver zip that ran down its centre, the coat was a little too long for the blonde leaving it hanging down to his hip. Underneath the open jacket was a loosely fitting, black tank top, decorated with a burnt orange Uzumaki clan swirl insignia proudly displayed in on the centre of simple shirt.

Matching his jacket, he wore black,combat standard pants that missed the burnt orange trim. The combat pants had bandages wrapped neatly around Naruto's left thigh, used for his weapons pouch, which he had just recently stocked with kunai and shuriken. After wearing the combat pants for a few days he found that the loose material was hindering his movement somewhat, causing him to tie the bottom of them with bandages. To complete his outfit he had decided on the standard black ninja sandals along with a long black head band, which would eventually be replaced by his hitai ate.

With one final look around the small one bedroom apartment, he nodded his head, satisfied that he hadn't forgotten anything. Unable to resist, he stretched his arms up high into the air while letting out a yawn that filled silence of the apartment for a brief few seconds, now relieved of the lingering fatigue he headed out of his apartment ready to face the day. Well he considered himself to be ready at least.

The angry raven huffed, aggressively slamming the door shut while letting out a low growl of frustration, a deep frown dressed his face. Needing to vent further the Uchiha seethed, he let out another frustrated growl of annoyance.  
" _Everyone's the same around here! Annoying!"_ His day had been the same as usual, everyone was fussing over him, telling him how deeply sorry they were for his loss, like they understood anything about him or what he was going through. The gentle smiles they forced upon their faces made him want to throw up, why did everyone treat him like he'd shatter at the lightest touch.

"Hmph!" The obviously irritated Uchiha complained as he huffed towards his living room, the huge empty building feeling somewhat lonely now that the other members had all been heartlessly murdered. Just a few months ago the proud clan's living areas would be buzzing with life, now they were desolate like a ghost town, which was essentially what the Uchiha compound could now be considered.

He continued angrily stomping through the house to the living room, the pristine white couch not tempting him even the slightest bit, the sound of his heavy footsteps slapping the wooden flooring continued to echo throughout the house as he marched upstairs. He just wanted to get away from everything, this hollow shell of a compound only served to remind him of what he had lost and when he left every damned person who saw him felt the need to apologise to him, again reminding him of his pains. Shaking his head in an attempt to calm himself Sasuke decided he'd do what he'd done every day since the massacre, train until he passed out, drown himself in pushing his body to the limit to forget about everything that was haunting him.

The small raven knew he should have waited until his eighth birthday as instructed by his parents to collect his new training clothes though that was when they were still alive, he considered that by now it was close enough. He needed to train and his now tightly fitting clothing was holding him back from doing so, his movements had been stiff and forced due to the way the fabric pulled at his muscles, at one point Sasuke thought he was definitely going to tear his small, aging clothes.

Sasuke now more than ever felt the need to be stronger, he had a purpose; he had to get revenge for his clan. In the past he had simply felt the need to be noticed, to be someone other than just 'Itachi's little brother' it made him frown at just the thought, it didn't matter what he did, Itachi seemed to have done the same, only better in every single way, Sasuke had trained himself to be able to show the world just how strong he really was yet it never seemed to be enough.

Initially he was going to be trained by his father at a later age, he was to be brushed aside until Itachi had finished his training, though in secrecy he began to take from the clans library, studying whatever he could get his hands on, anything that would give him an edge over the other academy students when he attended, he'd be the best in his class at least.

Sasuke was intelligent and it shown almost immediately, complex battle tactics and theories about physical fitness and training schemes came naturally to him, leading him to even create a training regime of his own. He had worked tirelessly both mentally and physically in order to stand out from his brother even a little, but in comparison to the elder Uchiha who had been thrown into war at a young age and forced to adapt, he was just a sheltered child.

Ever since the night of the Uchiha massacre Sasuke had begun pushing himself further than ever before, sometimes even passing out from chakra exhaustion as he attempted to master his family's signature Katon jutsu, he smiled solemnly, the only time his father had shown him any praise was after he completed the jutsu to an acceptable standard. Now though he was in desperate need of his new training gear even though he was supposed to wait until his eighth birthday.

" _Hn, not like anyone can stop me anyway."_ The small raven mused coldly while heading to the wardrobe situated in his parents' room, he passed the grand double bed, noticing that it had been made with the loving care that only his mother could seem to achieve. Sasuke shrugged off useless thoughts of his family turning his attention eagerly to the large oak wardrobe in front of him, the wooden double doors were the only thing coming between him and his new training gear.

Only feeling a sense of duty to listen to his deceased parents for a few more moments, he willed himself to pull open the large cupboard doors and reveal his training gear; he had important things to do today after all and couldn't afford to hesitate. The raven slowly pulled open the doors with a slight creak, excited to see his new clothing. To his surprise he heard a soft thud, seeing a rather large scroll rolling by his feet. Sasuke was intrigued, following the scroll with his onyx eyes as it rolled away from him, leaving him momentarily forgetting about his combat purpose training gear.

Picking it up from the floor he noted that 'Dear Sasuke.' Was all the scroll had written on it.  
" _Strange."_ Sasuke thought in confusion, he had not expected a scroll, perhaps it was a birthday message. He slowly opened it, not hiding his curiosity he immediately began to read, his eyes widening in horror as he did, the scroll documented the truth of the clan's slaughter. What shocked him most was that it had been written and predicted by his own father; right down to the time and date to the place he would meet his end, not missing a single detail.

Everything was there, the truth about Itachi's orders, the plans for an uprising against Konoha, Shisui's death, Itachi's higher level of Sharingan and lastly plans for a civil war that shown that the Uchiha were plotting to become leaders of the village. Reading on, despite his emotions, the scroll finally came to the end. The bottom of the document had been decorated by a seal. Sasuke pushed chakra into it, his brow furrowing as he watched glow a deep blue, revealing a small Uchiha crest that fell on to the palm of his hand. To the raven's surprise, extra writing appeared on the scroll in place of the newly removed seal, there was a final message left by his father.

'Sasuke, this is the crest of the Uchiha, it is something that only I am able to hand down to the heir of the Uchiha. If you are capable, this crest will awaken your Sharingan.'  
Suddenly an unpleasant burning sensation attacked the palm of his hand; he stared at the Uchiha crest in amazement as it dissolved away into his skin causing him to bite back the sudden pain.  
Soon the agony was overwhelming, forcing Sasuke to close his eyes. As he did, he felt a strange surge of warm energy rushing to his eyes, and upon opening them he could see things clearer than ever before as he glanced around the master bedroom as if seeing for the first time.

Trudging into the bathroom next door, Sasuke ignored the cold, white floor tiles against his feet as he looked into the long horizontal mirror hung above the matching white ceramic sink. Seeing his new crimson eye colour made him feel a strange wave of satisfaction wash over him, to the raven it seemed more like he was a real Uchiha now, as he gazed at the one tomoe Sharingan looking back at him somehow they made him look like a threatening shinobi rather than a mere child.

Other than his eyes Sasuke was a ghostly white since he had finished reading the unexpected document, even paler than usual. He was living in some sort of crazy nightmare all over again; his own brother had been turned against him? Worst of all it was his own village who were to blame.  
Cold sweat raced down his face as he stared into the mirror, gripping the ceramic sink below him tightly in attempt to deny the truth of what he had just read.

" _It couldn't be true…could it?!"_ Sasuke questioned in shock, the massacre had never made sense to him, Itachi wasn't a cold blooded killer that would simply murder his whole family just to test his strength…at least; Sasuke didn't want to believe so. Itachi had always been kind and loving up until Shisui's death, just as his father's scroll had mentioned, this was the beginning of the end for the Uchiha.

A strong case of paranoia formed in his head, forcing him to unconsciously glance out of the window, looking for anyone who may be watching him. The sudden feeling that everyone was against him began to overwhelm him, he couldn't help but feel completely trapped. His village had ordered the death of his clan and his father's last message told him that he was the only person that Itachi simply couldn't kill, still Itachi wasn't here anymore. Anyone from the village could attack him to finish what they started.

He pushed his worries aside for now, mostly the young raven was still devastated from what he'd read, Sasuke felt the crushing hurt of the loss of his clan all over again and now had even become frightened of his own village. It now seemed that his survival was merely a loose end of a mission. They pretended he was some sort of prince, treating him like royalty, the precious last of the Uchiha.  
' _They want me dead…just like the rest of my clan_.' Sasuke suddenly decided in his paranoia, clenching his fists in anger and denial. He looked around frantically to see if anyone had saw him, he felt like he was being watched, glared at from all directions! If he acted any different they would know…they would know for sure that he had found out they were after him and it would take more than just a new set of eyes to save him.

More potent than any of the feelings the boy was going through, was his anger, his rage flared as he relived the priceless moments with his brother. His brother that was forced to choose between stopping a war and killing his own family…he violently punched a hole through the sturdy wooden bathroom door, attempting to relieve some of his rage; the loud bang from the strike echoed through the empty house that only reminded him that the compound was empty. He gritted his teeth angrily while pulling his arm free from the punctured sliding door, his paranoia was coming back in force.

" _I have to get the hell out of here!"_ He raged inwardly before shaking off the idea, he scanned the area with his now red eyes, cautiously looking for anyone who could be monitoring him, those ANBU he had seen around the compound must be there for a reason.  
" _I won't get very far if I leave by myself…I need someone else, anyone is better than nothing! Hell I can even leave them behind to save myself! I just...I have to get away from here at any cost!"_ He plotted desperately. Taking a deep breath Sasuke forced himself to be calm, choosing to head downstairs in a stoic manner that made even his usual behaviour look sociable, he attempted to act 'normal'.

It wasn't long before he found himself planning; vivid scenarios would appear in his mind, starting with what he'd take with him on his journey. He had limited himself to a specific weight, any more than that and he'd be weighed down when moving or in his case escaping this prison. Countless lists of options went through his head on just his equipment alone, ranging from the best chance to fend off an opponent to the least amount of weight which would allow him to escape from a battle alot easier.

Sasuke wisely began thinking that a way of treating injuries would be essential to his survival no matter what, if he couldn't treat his wounds or manage to stay alive then all would be for nothing. He'd have to have a way to at least patch himself up as best he could. Soon he had collected whatever medicines, bandages and first aid materials that he could find from the Uchiha compound, and stored it in his original place of planning, the underground secret Uchiha hideout which had become the only place he felt safe right now.

Sasuke casually glanced over at the goods he had gathered on the table, nodded to himself, and then started storing them into his backpack. The medicines such as painkillers, vitamins, soldier pills and bandages were the first items to be packed away, though he was not sure what would follow. The Uchiha looked back at the small wooden table in the centre of the room with irritation; the two ancient candles that barely lit the room caused him to squint just to see the items he had gathered. In a burst of rage he knocked the remaining items off the table with a swipe of his arm.

" _It's all useless! Everything changes depending on who I leave with…dammit!"_ Sasuke roared angrily with loud growl escaping him, he sighed heavily, pushing his hands through his hair. He felt pressured into getting this right; he'd only get one chance at this, from then on he'd be hunted down. He soon recognised the importance of having someone to rely on all over again. New plans and scenarios were easy to form but before he could lose himself even further with pointless day dreams, he decided he needed to get out of the compound for a while, he would usually go down to the river around this time anyway. Giving in to his paranoia decided he had better stick to his schedule.

Naruto groaned tiredly as he forced himself to stand, the small cuts and bruising that were littering his body had already begun fading away as if they were never there, though his body was still aching from the pain. The blonde found that he really had to hold back today, after nearly snapping at the villagers who were attacking him; he barely resisted the urge to kill them. He really couldn't take it anymore.

" _Every single day…"_ He grumbled with a heavy heart, memories of the beatings he had received over the years got the better of him, leaving him rolling his shoulders, hoping to remove some of their new found stiffness. Naruto didn't understand the villagers, but to him it was worse that they didn't give him a chance to understand; to them he was nothing more than a means to get revenge on the kyuubi.

" _I'm supposed to be one of them, to fight on the same team as them, so why does this always happen?"_ He groaned sadly, perfectly aware of his 'situation' with the Kyuubi. The way he saw it was that the nine tailed fox was forced into attacking the village. If it wasn't for him suppressing the beast then there really would be a demon in Konoha, a real one, and not an innocent seven year old boy that didn't defend himself.

He walked aimlessly around the village outskirts trying desperately to distract his mind from the growing displeasure of life in Konoha. The only things he managed to look forward to was his time alone, sitting on top of the hokage monument on the Fourth's head, his father's head.  
" _I don't know how people can't tell… they must really be stupid, or just refuse to believe it."_ He vented with annoyance, exhausted from the day, his tired legs would barely lift themselves towards the destination that he didn't have.

From the corner of his eye he saw a boy sitting on a small wooden pier, he had pitch black hair and was wearing dark clothing, from what Naruto could see, the boy had an athletic build to him. The blonde was willing to assume that the boy had trained from a young age. Much to Naruto's surprise the raven quickly turned around as if on edge and had pin pointed the blonde in moments.

Naruto saw something in his eyes as the two looked curiously at each other, this boy was desperate for something, like he wanted an escape. This intrigued the blonde; it was as if the boy was mirroring his own feelings. Without noticing it Naruto had continued walking and slowly the unknown boy got further and further away. Naruto turned his head, snapping back to reality, as he looked back towards the direction of his apartment.

" _Weird…"_ Naruto thought lazily to himself before mentally shrugging, he was tired, his daily training session had really done a number on him, it may have even been worse than the beatings he got afterwards. What he did notice though, was that the dull pain from the assaults seemed to be less and less notable each time the beatings happened, as if he was slowly adapting to it.

Sasuke looked down thoughtfully at the small, tranquil lake that surrounded the pier, coming here always helped him to collect his thoughts and calm him. With the revelation from his father's scroll in his mind he couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous, it felt like there were people watching his every move though whenever he snapped around in an attempt to catch them in the act, there was never anyone there except for the blonde that had just passed him.

" _Strange…I don't remember seeing him around the other children…_ " Sasuke pondered a little intrigued as he gazed at his reflection in deep thought. Crimson eyes were staring back at him and he couldn't help but feel proud of his bloodline, he had activated his sharingan in act of defiance, here he was sitting calmly in the village that wanted his clan dead, showing off his clan's signature bloodline.

"Hmph." Sasuke huffed proudly as he stood up, he had better things to be doing than staring into a lake all night, he had to plan if he was going to succeed after all, there was alot he had to do.  
" _I don't know how…but I'll get out of here for sure!_ " he declared to himself as he clenched his fists with determination, Konoha was no place for him anymore, he didn't feel safe, the raven knew that this place had little to offer him now that his family was all dead, sure he could grow into a standard ninja, take the academy and maybe eventually peak at a jounin but Sasuke wanted more, he wanted to be known across the world, he wanted to be more than just 'Itachi's little brother'.

Sasuke wore a pained frown for a moment as he stopped walking, he glared angrily at the ground,  
" _Itachi..._ ' He thought with confusion, overwhelming feelings struck him as he tried to clear his clouded mind, his brother was innocent, his brother was still the loving, kind, gentle man that he had always seen him as. Itachi had even killed the whole clan just to make sure that Sasuke was spared, there was no way Sasuke could simply just kill him now...but he still murdered the clan,  
' _Tch!...Why, Itachi!? Why didn't you tell me the truth!...'_ Sasuke desperately clenched his fists as his brow furrowed deeply, he tried to calm himself, these foreign feelings were making things even more difficult right now, they would have to wait.

Naruto sighed loudly as he pushed open the creaking door to his apartment, things could be better that's for sure, but he didn't complain about it; instead he walked inside and proceeded to lock the door behind him, like he did ever since the villagers started beating him. He was soon sat comfortably at the kitchen table, the steaming smell of ramen gently warming his face, intoxicating him as he looked down at it.  
" _It's no Ichiraku's but still…"_ the blonde thought happily before slowly eating the meal. He took the time to enjoy it; at home he didn't have to pretend like he was some bottomless pit, the only reason he ate like that in public was so that he could finish the meal as quickly as possible. He was sure that there were fewer customers at Ichiraku's when he was around.

Naruto began carefully thinking about his day, he usually did this after coming home, always trying to be unbiased to pointing out the good and bad points to himself. He would have to admit he did try not to name all the negatives, just to put a positive spin on things, even if it was slightly cheating at his own game.

Still the young Uzumaki couldn't help but think things would be better somewhere else, after all, he was a loner who had no responsibilities and no ties to Konoha. The only thing holding him back was what held him back in many other ways, the nine tailed fox. Naruto had to admit he appreciated Kyuubi after meeting with her in his mindscape three years ago, without her he doubted he would be as capable as he was right now, her teachings in general knowledge and combat were priceless to him. However he was still a jinchuuriki, something that a hidden village like Konoha wouldn't simply let walk away a free man.

Still, what did Konoha have to offer him? He was probably more capable than he would of been if had simply entered the academy without any training from Kyuubi, he had seen the fresh genin around the village, doing mindless chores like petty workers, he was going to be a ninja not some labour slave! He wanted to be powerful, for people to recognise him for who he is, Naruto wanted respect, if he became powerful, more powerful than even the Hokage, then people would have no choice but to acknowledge him.

He didn't hate Konoha though, the thing that upset him the most about the way he was treated was that he loved this village with all of his heart, it was beautiful to him. He wished Konoha would just give him a chance yet deep down he knew they would always resent him, even if he grown powerful and defended the village, wouldn't they become more weary of his strength? They didn't trust the blonde, they knew what he held and growing stronger would probably only scare them. Naruto shook his head glumly, he didn't want that kind of life, to be constantly treated like a wild beast.

The blonde knew that he was even monitored from time to time yet he was sure he could at least escape the village; it was after he'd escaped that was the hard part. The young Uzumaki didn't know how long he'd be able to flee from trained hunter-nin, though he imagined himself to be able to do quite well in locations he knew as the advantage would be his.  
" _I guess running from the villagers is good for some things."_ He considered with a huff, adding his positive spin to things. Naruto continued to think about leaving the hateful village like he usually did, sprawled out comfortably on his bed as the moonlight poured in from his large window, the old radiator producing just the right amount of heat to make the room have relaxing warmth to it. The small moments of this peaceful activity quickly became Naruto's personal sanctuary in everyday life.

He dove deeper into his thoughts, his imagination getting the better of him as he wondered what it would be like travelling the world and meeting friends who wouldn't discriminate against him. He dreamt of becoming a strong and praised ninja that people could look up too, but the parts that came after that discomforted him a little. With him being a runaway he doubted people would look up to him, in the end he guessed that it didn't matter after all. If he did what he believed was the right, then he'd have no regrets.

Naruto sighed heavily.  
"I doubt I could do it alone."


	2. Ravens and Maelstroms

Hey guys! I'm really happy with how this one turned out after the editing process, before there was just so much wrong with it that it was somewhat painful, bad grammar, the text had been checked over and had errors and in general there just seemed to be alot lacking. I hope I've managed to really flesh it out and give a bit more depth and world building! Thought it did go from 3,328 words all the way up to 8000...whoops.

* * *

Chapter 2 - Ravens and Maelstroms

Sasuke had awoken early like every morning since his plans began, it had been four weeks since then and the raven hadn't enjoyed a single moment of it. The last Uchiha had been plagued by terrifying paranoia, he felt watched, monitored, like his every move was being observed, he'd been struggling valiantly just to keep his mind calm and collected. Sasuke knew that he wouldn't last much longer in these conditions, the raven needed hope, he needed an escape, he knew he had to leave Konoha.  
' _Hn...at least it seems I am alone this morning.'_ The raven thought thankfully as he looked around nervously for any signs of ANBU that may be lingering around the Uchiha compound.

He slid open the simple wooden door leading to his back garden, noting that the morning sun hadn't even risen in the steely blue, dull morning sky yet. The raven had found himself enjoying this time of day, much like his brother Itachi used to, perhaps it was an Uchiha thing? The silent mornings were so peaceful that it helped Sasuke to be calm and think rationally, the tranquillity only being complimented by the occasional singing bird or the relaxing backing track of the garden pond's flowing water. He noted that the plants in the serene garden seemed to be losing their beauty, wilting and becoming almost dead, a deep frown sat upon his features as he realised this,  
' _Tch...how Kaa-san managed to keep them healthy I will never know.'_ He mused with an irritable frown, no matter what he had tried, he just didn't seem to have the same prowess for gardening that Mikoto had.

Shaking his head to dispel the random train of thought, Sasuke sat down comfortably on his garden porch feeling somewhat like a monk as he sat in an Indian style, meditating with his eyes firmly closed and immersing himself in deep thinking. His investigations over these last few weeks had been subtle, the raven had done his best to act 'normal' whenever he exited his home within the Uchiha compound, still he had discovered that using his clan status as a means of gathering Intel a very useful thing.

First of all Sasuke considered all of the upcoming kunoichi, for some reason he naturally deduced that it would be better that he travel with a female if possible, he felt that somehow it would provide a more varied set of skills, Sasuke's mother always seemed to be far better at being compassionate than his father after all, the raven had wondered if women were simply naturally superior in this respect, it would be great to have someone with strong negotiation or medical skills. Sasuke shook his head indiscriminately, all of the Hokages so far were men, surely they must also be well versed in negotiations and compassion,  
' _Hn...perhaps it was only Tou-san that could act so coldly...'_ Sasuke considered a little sadly at the thoughts of his father, still he went back to the matters at hand.

To his disappointment, the kunoichi hopefuls of a similar age to him had all been branded as a lost cause, they simply weren't interested in training, none of them pushed themselves to the limit attempting to gain strength and power like he did so himself. The raven felt as though he had matured after pushing aside the loss of his clan and the confusion of emotions that thoughts of his older brother brought with them, Sasuke had recently been feeling at peace to the extent that he was actually starting to remind himself of Itachi even despite his paranoia. Still he couldn't help but harshly critique the girls of his age, perhaps they would grow up to become talented ninja, though right now the last Uchiha needed the best he could get and so far they seemed more likely to weigh him down.

He let out a hopeless sigh, deciding to go over the candidates in his head one more time, maybe he had glossed over something useful? It was best to be thorough for something like this after all. Sasuke considered time and time again that this was in fact a life changing decision, meaning it should be treated as such; he certainly wasn't going to do this half-heartedly. Leaving Konoha was no easy task, it wasn't the most powerful hidden village for nothing, he considered that if he was already a ninja then he'd be able to pass through the gates claiming he had a mission which would allow him to leave without issue, sadly this wasn't the case for the young raven.  
' _Of course I couldn't just march right out of the village as I am now...they would definitely know.'_ Sasuke suppressed a shudder at that as he managed to get a hold of himself, squashing down the feelings of anxiety as he distracted himself with the kunoichi candidates.

A brunette girl named TenTen had caught his eye, she seemed motivated which really grabbed his attention after all she was the first girl he had studied, surely he wouldn't be so lucky to find a partner so quickly? He found out that she was training to specialize in weaponry, the girl was from a civilian background with no clan techniques or specialized skills to speak of, alot to ask from a young girl certainly but this was the ninja world, anything was possible and alot of the clan children already had some knowledge of their techniques at this age, like Hyuuga Hinata, but he would get to her later.

Sadly a weapons expert was something that he didn't find to be all that extraordinary, any ninja could become a weapons user with just practice alone, he didn't believe it to be enough to become a specification nor did he believe that she was the best choice for his escape, she didn't even seem to have any reason to leave which ultimately meant Tenten was a definite no.  
" _Hn…despite her attitude I don't think she'd ever be of use to me."_ Sasuke critiqued with a frown, he considered it a shame that the girl was not into ninjutsu; she really could have been a great asset to the last Uchiha.

The shy girl named Hinata was next in the list he had created within his mind, despite her lack of confidence and skill, she did have the Byakugan which was something that he could definitely make use of in one way or another, a kekkei genkai like that was not something that he could find just anywhere. The timid Hyuuga had her fair share of hardships within her clan yet Sasuke sincerely doubted she would leave with him, besides he needed someone he could rely on, an equal, he already had a pair of special eyes. The raven knew if he took Hinata with him that he would have to train her to be at his level, another deep frown settled upon his porcelain face, how would Hinata further her Byakuugan techniques? It's not like he had that knowledge to teach her after all.

Despite this he still considered her an option, her unique fighting style and useful clan techniques were definitely not something he would shrug off, her attitude could always be altered.  
" _Living in the wilderness would surely change the sheltered girl…"_ Sasuke thought wisely, if there was one thing he knew it was that people could adapt and change to suit just about any conditions, a gentle breeze passed through his yard making him shiver slightly, he'd adapted to live in a ghost town after all.

The next young hopeful on his list was a member of the Yamanaka clan, Ino was the daughter of the clan head, Inoichi, a member of Konoha's famous Ino-Shika-Cho combo and he doubted the jounin would be too happy about him whisking away his daughter to live in the wilderness with him. Still Sasuke studied her like the rest of his targets, he paled a little with dread, just thinking of the bubbly blonde made him shudder, she was a proud fan girl that had little interest in anything but her looks and hobbies that were more suited to a civilian girls' life style, not that there was anything wrong with that particularly but it didn't exactly label her as the ideal escape candidate either.

While studying Ino, Sasuke had came across Sakura Haruno, a civilian pinkette that lacked any form of ninja training, the bookworm type girl had certainly read all about it and even tried to impress him with her knowledge of various topics, which he had found odd, especially as she had been blushing up a storm as she displayed her interest in ninja tactics. Sasuke merely dismissed it, wondering if the girl was simply she like the Hyuuga girl, he had found that Sakura didn't really have many friends except for Ino, though with the blonde dragging her everywhere she went he figured that the cherry blossom girl would soon become socially accepted and unwilling to leave the village, not that he thought she was the ideal partner in crime.

' _Hn...no matter how many times I think it over, I doubt i'd consider any of these a real option...'_ Sasuke mused hopelessly, he folded his fingers together and rested them under his chin, a pose that he often fell into when deep in thought. With the kunoichi hopefuls clearly not up to the task he had to think up his list of the boys. He considered that it may have been easier to convince a boy to leave with him, boys usually had an innate sense of adventure, especially at a young age and leaving the village could potentially seem like a fantastic place to start a heroic journey.  
' _Not that there's anything particularly heroic about running away from home...'_ Sasuke considered with a small amused smile, the raven had to admit he was strangely excited to set off on his own into the wide open world.

Unfortunately for the last Uchiha, going over the list of boys his age seemed just as hopeless, still he knew it couldn't hurt to think it over one more time. The civilian children didn't really appeal to him, he blamed this on his Uchiha pride, he wanted the best of the best, while he didn't doubt some civilians could grow to be incredible ninja, he also knew that clan techniques were incredibly beneficial to have. Sasuke did however, despite his Uchiha 'better than you' outlook on life, give the young civilian boys a chance. He studied them just as he studied anyone else not wanting to let his arrogance cost him a vital opportunity though to his dismay most of the children seemed far more interested in hurling wooden kunai and shuriken at each other while playing hide and seek, a game that they had called 'playing ninja'.

' _I don't have time to be simply playing games, if I mess this up then who knows what might happen to me...Konoha may be happy to treat me as royalty right now, treating me as the 'precious last Uchiha' but if they found I was trying to escape their clutches I doubt they would continue to act so kindly.'_ Sasuke hadn't been the same since his clan died and now things like playing childish games seemed so pointless to him, he needed to become strong and sometimes wondered why no one else shared his desire to become powerful. He thought back to his mental list, moving on to the boys from clans.

Some of the clan children had practiced with their clan heads which was something that he made note of, they managed to look more reliable than some of the civilian bunch at least. Shikamaru was someone he considered an option, a genius tactician would be very useful to have, he had heard rumours from the various civilians he had asked about the boy that Shikamaru was showing signs that his intelligence would rival even his father's. Sasuke smirked, it was amazing that the civilians would spill the info to him just because he was the 'last Uchiha' though he did insist that he was simply trying to get to know his academy classmates before he entered.

With one quick glance at Shikamaru, Sasuke knew there was no chance in hell of him ever becoming a runaway, the boy really wasn't the type to run away and risk everything. The shadow user was lazy, lacked any form of motivation, and only seemed to laze around staring at the clouds all day. Shikamaru's clan techniques and powerful mind would be useful one day but as the boy was now Sasuke doubted he could use any ninjutsu. Shikamaru also had loyalty to the village through his clan; he really couldn't be a viable option at this point.  
' _Tch...what kind of a ninja clan prides itself on being lazy anyway?_ ' The raven wondered with confusion, he had heard that Shikamaru's father was proud of his clan's laid back attitude saying it allowed them to remain calm in any situation.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes with a sudden seriousness, Hyuuga Neji was a great find, he was named as a prodigy, topping his class in the academy in every single subject, he was the definition of a genius. He frowned at this, while Neji was certainly a genius he was also sheltered, he wondered how far he or Neji would of grown if they were thrown into war like Itachi who had managed to become a Chuunin at the age of ten.

A skilled Hyuuga was definitely an interest to him, Sasuke had confirmed his talent with his own clan's eyes. To the raven's disappointment, Neji was proud and incredibly brash. He doubted that he would become someone he could rely on unless something severe happened to change his attitude, but the raven considered the possibility that Neji's strength would make up for it. The boy even seemed to harbour feelings of hate towards his clan, he had apparently lost his father at a young age and became incredibly bitter. After learning of the caged bird seal however, he figured that Neji could be easily taken care of by the Hyuuga clan head, should he ever try to leave the village.

Sasuke knew there was nothing he could do, Neji was a member of the branch clan, who knew what limits would be put in place in order to ensure that he didn't surpass the most elite of the main house. Sasuke considered that the boy would most likely be better off training outside of his clan if he wanted to reach his true potential. All in all though, Neji couldn't be the person Sasuke needed.

Too his surprise he hadn't been able to find out much information on Inuzuka Kiba or Aburame Shino, he had heard that Kiba's mother was highly protective of the boy to the point where the villagers daren't give him any information or gossip, in case it came back to bite them, literally. As for Shino, the stoic and serious Aburame clan had always been secretive, the young raven figured it was unlikely he was going to learn anything of use and if he was honest, the idea of being surrounded by chakra eating bugs wasn't exactly appealing.

' _That leaves my most interesting candidate...if only I could find him, hn. For someone apparently so loud and obnoxious you sure are good at hiding...Naruto.'_ Sasuke thought with annoyance, none of the others he had studied had eluded him and it was beginning to make his life difficult, he didn't have time to sit around, he felt trapped in his own village and desperately wanted to escape as soon as possible. _  
_  
Suddenly memories came to Sasuke, the memories of attempting to research the blonde that had passed him on the pier was still strangely nowhere to be found. Back then he wasn't sure the young boy was even a ninja yet he couldn't fight his curiosity when he couldn't seem to find the boy. Initially he considered this a good sign, perhaps the blonde was good at stealth, not wanting to be found by the raven, but after learning the boy was a loner with no family like himself, he thought rather coldly that perhaps the boy was already dead.

With a theory, Sasuke had sat by the pier again, at around about the same time he had first saw the blonde (who he had discovered was called Naruto) hoping to catch him once again. To his joy, Naruto walked past him, a foxy grin plastered on his tired face as he walked by with his head resting on the hands he held behind his head, Sasuke strained his unused facial muscles and had even managed to flash a small smile of his own. The Uchiha was filled with new found determination, doing whatever he could to research Naruto.

Surprisingly with little effort he learnt that the blonde's full name was Naruto Uzumaki, though most people referred to him as the demon brat of Konoha. The raven was surprised at that, the whiskered boy certainly didn't appear demon-like to him, if anything he seemed more like a happy-go-lucky bubbly blonde. This left the last Uchiha wondering if it was a compliment to the blonde's strength, though after intensive research he noticed people would also call him 'Fox-brat.' After putting two and two together Sasuke realized that the villagers were insistent that Naruto was a fox demon and the only fox demon he knew was the all powerful Kyuubi which nearly destroyed Konoha.

That was some demon he had sealed inside him. Sasuke began thinking highly of the blonde; a container of such a demon could perhaps be worthy to be his partner. Upon discovering the way the small Uzumaki was harshly treated by the villagers he had considered that Naruto probably would leave if he was ever given the opportunity. What irritated Sasuke was that he had no idea how to find the evasive boy except for waiting by the pier, and even then he wasn't sure the boy would show up.

During the time at the pier he was never able to approach the boy; in fact he was lucky if he even heard him pass by. The blonde's stealth was something that would be valued when escaping. Sasuke broke off the memories and stood, looking over his garden with determination,  
" _Hn. I'll find him today."_ Sasuke mused flatly, confident in his ability. His trademark 'Hn' was becoming more of thinking hum than a rude conversation ender. With the feeling of being watched finally getting the better of the raven, he went back inside, only to see an ANBU shunshin away out of the corner of his eye, perhaps it wasn't just paranoia after all.

Sasuke walked through the house before reaching the front entrance, although he needed to find the blonde there was something else he had to do first, he had been doing a lot more than just investigating people after all. The raven decided to head to the village wall, for a wall so large, no blind spots would be unlikely, he'd take the time to study it, he needed the best chance possible if he was going to escape successfully. He frowned as he strapped on his ninja pouch, it felt light weight signify it was free of any equipment,  
' _Hn, looks like I better stock up...I'm not sure what condition the weapons in the Uchiha armoury are in so I guess my first stop will be the market.'_ The Uchiha realized before heading out with a hopeful expression, he was getting closer to his goal, he could feel it, he'd make his escape for sure.

Naruto had been incredibly busy. All of his things had been sealed, he smiled down at his desolate apartment, all that was left was his furniture which he obviously wouldn't be taking with him, this was his ingenious plan to cut down on weight when leaving the village. He loaded up a simple black backpack with the scrolls, grinning as he realised he still had plenty of room to spare and couldn't help but chuckle when he realized the bag was still feather light. However this wasn't the only thing that had been keeping the blonde so busy lately.

His hellish training could be mentioned, but most of his time was consumed doing strenuous research, he found this difficult with his 'demon brat / prankster ' status and spying on villagers was much too suspicious for his reputation. Something that Naruto did manage to discover was that the raven haired boy he'd seen by the pier appeared to be doing the same thing as him, only with a lot more success.

This was essentially something that the Uzumaki could use for himself. Not willing to pass up an advantage, he followed in the shadows as the boy gained information, using his prestigious clan status and what Naruto believed to be charisma to get what he wanted. Naruto decided he would be able to get what he wanted by just using his stealth, it was perfect!

Although this wasn't his preferred method of reconnaissance, he had to admit that it worked, Naruto had figured that pretty much all of his other candidates would be semi-useful at best.  
" _Although I don't really think they'd have much reason to leave anyway...especially not with me"_ Naruto thought with a frown, rubbing the back of his head a little disheartened by the revelation.

The only interesting candidate was the raven haired boy, who he now knew was Sasuke Uchiha, or 'the last remaining Uchiha' as the villagers called him. To Naruto's surprise there were rumors that he had already awakened the Sharingan.  
' _Man...having a cool bloodline at such a young age, if we teamed up we'd be the strongest most bad ass ninja ever!'_ Naruto beamed with excitement, he knew that Sasuke would be the person he could rely on, he could just feel it!

' _ **And it will be all thanks to me, you're lucky to have such an incredible teacher you know...'**_ Kyuubi replied softly, he could feel her tails swishing around within the mindscape, the common sign that she was teasing him, Naruto frowned with a huff giving her the reaction she had wanted,  
' _Hey I work hard! It's not just because of you! And what about Sasuke? He trains all by himself!'_ Naruto yelled back angrily while folding his arms across his chest, pouting at the fox demon in a childish manner.  
' _ **Oh what's this? Defending the Uchiha child already...hmhmhm, my, my, Naru-chan I didn't realise you had already made up your mind about the boy, awhh could it be you want to be his friend~?'**_  
Kyuubi smirked happily, continuing to tease the innocent blonde who only flushed with anger, his face becoming red with embarrassment as he let out another angry huff.  
' _W-Whatever! Like I care about that...I just need someone strong so we can leave!'_ He spat back desperately, even he knew his act was pretty lackluster but thankfully the fox relented, they both knew Naruto had always wanted to make a friend or at least someone to spend time with.

At first Naruto had thought the young Uchiha would be difficult to be around, he seemed stuck up and secretive, cold and impassive. He idly wondered if all Uchiha were like this but shook his head from the thoughts. As he gazed around his empty apartment he remembered how his opinion of Sasuke slowly changed as he had spent time following him around.

The young Uzumaki couldn't help but be reminded of himself in some ways, Sasuke was hard working pushing himself to the point where he would often collapse in his training grounds, it usually made Naruto anxious, wondering if he should take the boy to a hospital or not, especially as the young Uchiha usually managed to cover himself in cuts or bruises. After seeing the boy train for the majority of the day, Naruto had to think long and hard about which one of them would win if they were to fight, but his efforts were in vain and he soon gave up.

Naruto had wondered why Sasuke had been learning all about his future class mates, the raven's given excuse just didn't make any sense, anyone with any social sense could tell that there was no way in hell Sasuke was looking to make friends, that just wasn't believable, at least not to the blonde. Shaking his head Naruto silently denied it, the Uchiha had been suspiciously anxious, looking around at the village as if he was being watched at all times, he was definitely up to something.

He allowed a deep frown to fall upon his face at that, the blonde glanced over at his notes he had made about various people of his age, he was so sure that Sasuke had the same idea in mind, he was willing to bet everything he had that the Uchiha was preparing to leave the village yet he wasn't one hundred percent certain. Today he would follow the raven as usual, this time to learn if his plans were similar to his own.

A firm but gentle knock on the door shook him from his thoughts, a visitor? His eyes shot to his rather suspicious backpack and collection of notes that were sprawled out across his small brown coffee table that was situated in his humble living room.  
"Naruto? Are you in there?" The gruff but kind voice questioned from outside the door, knocking again for good measure, the Hokage was still under the impression that Naruto would sleep in late, despite the fact that the blonde would often be awake at six am to start his training.  
"Ahhh-ah? Yeah i'm here Jiji! One second I need to find my key!" Naruto panicked, quickly throwing his black backpack under his bed and slamming the door of his bedroom shut tight.

Naruto froze suddenly, all of his notes were still on his coffee table, he hopped over to the small desk, quickly shoving the documents into a nearby book and then hiding it under one of the seats of his worn brown couch,  
"Man! Where could it be!? Damned key, when I find you, you'll be sorry!" Naruto acted badly, he heard a small chuckle from outside that made him sigh with relief, that was until he heard the door slowly unlocking, he'd forgotten the Hokage carried his own key to the apartment after all.  
"Yatta! Got it!...oh, Old man! Why didn't you just come inside in the first place?!" Naruto gave his best embarrassed foxy grin while crouching under the coffee table, it looked as if the blonde had just found the key on the floor.

The third just let out a grumbling chuckle, shaking his head softly at the boys antics, to Naruto's shock, the man wore a sudden deep frown, he glanced around the apartment and immediately the blonde knew the Hokage was suspicious of it being so empty.  
"Hmm...Naruto, did you receive your funds this month? I have to say, your apartment seems rather barren." The wise elder commented with concern as he looked over to the now standing blonde.

Naruto just rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, acting as innocently as he could, he knew the old man could never see through his act of being a clumsy, over enthusiastic ninja wannabe which served as some advantage to him, but the look of concern on the old man's face filled him with guilt.  
"Ahh...haha...Well I got it but, I kinda used it buying shuriken and kunai so I could practice." The Uzumaki muttered in an embarrassed manner as best he could, he had always been a convincing actor.

"Surely a few tools would be inexpensive? The stipend you receive should allow you more than enough to survive on, ninja tools included. Perhaps there is something else going on here that you're not telling me Naruto?" The wise elder asked with a firm gaze, Naruto could tell the man was concerned for his well being but still that hardened shinobi stare made him feel small as if lying wasn't a good idea.

"Well...I guess the villagers don't really like me that much, I don't get it! I know I do pranks n' stuff but still! Whenever I buy stuff from them they always say I have to pay more cause i'm a fox brat? Like what the hell do they mean old man? I look nothing like a fox!" Naruto explained dumbly, frowning deeply and squinting his eyes, he knew it was easy to tell when someone was lying just by looking into their eyes, especially for someone of the Hokage's caliber. The blonde hated to do this to the old man he saw as a grandfather figure, Naruto knew the man would soon give up on any conversation that would make him shed light on the Kyuubi and he felt manipulative for using it to get him out of trouble.

"Hmmm, well I wouldn't worry too much about that Naruto, I shall see to it that this doesn't happen again, I am glad to see you are well at least." The elderly man offered with a kind smile, Naruto happily grinned back at the caring man, before sadly realising that soon he would no longer be around, when he left the village the third Hokage would be but a memory.  
"Perhaps we will have time to visit that ramen stand you so enjoy this week, hm?" Hiruzen grumbled happily making the young Uzumaki feel another pang of guilt and regret,  
"Sure thing old man! Your treat!" He gave the biggest foxy grin he could manage as the elder man let out a booming chuckle before turning on his heel to leave.

When the door gently shut behind him Naruto slumped down on the couch with a heavy heart, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned a milky white, he bit back his tears that threatened to fall, for some reason he had never considered Old Man Hokage in his plans to leave the village and now that he had, he realized just how much it hurt. After a few minutes of pain he stood with determination, no matter what he couldn't subject himself to living in Konoha any longer. He left his apartment, slamming the door behind him, nothing would stop him from leaving.

The whiskered boy laid lazily in a tree, insisting to Kyuubi that it was definitely a very important personal mission. After a few hours of lying there happily in relaxation, he saw his target, the small Uchiha walked into a store and minutes later came out with a plain black backpack. The blonde raised an eye brow in curiosity, watching on as Sasuke entered a weapons store, purchasing a suspicious amount of kunai and shuriken; it was an excessive amount for training purposes alone. The boy also went on to add steel ninja wire to his backpack, which perked Naruto's interest.

What he saw next though confirmed his thoughts, Sasuke was trying to escape just like he was. He stared on as the raven headed casually over to the village wall, unaware that the blonde was observing him intently. The Uchiha headed down some of the narrow cuts and alleys instead of taking a more direct route which seemed peculiar to Naruto at first, it would take the raven longer to reach the wall like this, was the boy really so anxious? Then it clicked together in Naruto's mind.

" _Hmm…It seems he's trying to plot a route, well, he'll never find one as good as mine!"_ The blonde thought triumphantly, he was now walking along the rooftops in a bored looking manner, stretching out his legs in an over exaggerated manner while looking down at the Uchiha who seemed totally oblivious. With a sudden movement the raven snapped around, looking directly in the place Naruto had previously been.

" _Phew! That was close…heh heh."_ Naruto mused sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck, if he hadn't quickly jumped backwards out of sight the raven would have caught him for sure.  
" _Guess I'll have to be more careful…"_ He considered cheekily before trailing the Uchiha once again, maybe he wasn't so oblivious after all. Sasuke had made it to the edge of the wall now, seeing this Naruto leapt into a nearby tree, taking a comfortable seat on a high branch hidden by leaves while watching the boy with amusement.

Sasuke was slowly walking along the wall with a bored look on his face, his hand was trailing along the huge monument as he walked, the raven seemed to be checking for something with a great amount of care. Every so often Naruto noted that the boy seemed to glance towards the guards, then would quickly return to studying the wall, taking extra care to study cracks that had formed along the village's defense.

" _So that's what he's doing…"_ Naruto realized as a foxy grin formed on his face, some what proud of the Uchiha, he seemed to be passing all of the blonde's tests and was clearly showing his intelligence,  
" _Seem's like he's even better than I thought he'd be!"_ Naruto declared happily while continuing to study the onyx eye'd boy that was carefully patrolling the village wall,  
" **Perhaps he will make a good ally after all…"** Kyuubi agreed thoughtfully, leaving Naruto nodding his head in approval, the blonde knew he'd had a good feeling about Sasuke.

" _I have to be careful…if someone notices that I'm studying the guards I could be in trouble…"_ Sasuke reminded himself cautiously, things had been going too well, for a village that probably wanted him dead he knew that he had to be on his toes at all times otherwise he might not be the last Uchiha for much longer.  
" _Hmph…perhaps they were planning to test my loyality in the academy…hn, I'll be long gone by then."_ Sasuke thought with confidence, his views of Konoha had been completely warped after reading his father's scroll, there was no way he could live out a regular, peaceful, Itachi killing life here anymore.

" _Well, here goes nothin'."_ Naruto thought with a deep breath preparing himself before transforming into his disguise. With a puff of smoke he became a bland looking jounin with almost no memorable features. He wore the standard green flak jacket, usual black combat pants complete with bandages and kunai pouch and wore his head band around his arm. The only thing of any note was the navy blue bandana that covered his blonde locks. Now that he was henged, Naruto could approach the raven without an issue, any on lookers would find it strange for Naruto to be lurking near the village walls after all.

While confronting the small uchiha infront of him, he couldn't help think that it was strange being so tall all of a sudden, he even had to look down to the Uchiha's unkempt midnight hair as he spoke,  
"Hey…Sasuke , is it?" The Jonin questioned lazily, causing the boy in question to turn snap to attention, freezing in realization, it was clearer now that Sasuke was obviously on edge. Instead of answering, Sasuke just looked at the man, hoping that he would continue. While trailing along the wall he had been watching the patrol patterns and not only that, he had been scoping the area, searching for a path he could use to escape the village without using the main roads that were heavily patrolled even at night. Sasuke was currently having great difficulty with this, he didn't know the winding alley ways and cuts well, his parents had always told him to avoid them after all.

"What are you doing all the way out here? You must be bored senseless." The Jonin said kindly with a smile, it was infectious and for some reason the Uchiha felt his lips tug upwards. Sasuke decided he would answer half truthfully, a ninja tactic he had learnt from trial and error when telling stretched truths to Itachi, but even then it only worked some of the time and he was sure Itachi was just letting him get away with it.

"I was studying the wall, I thought with It being so large it must have weaknesses, if I found any I could inform the Hokage. The wall protects the village after all." Sasuke spoke slowly and stoically, not daring to add emotion to his voice in case he gave something away. He was nervous about this, his paranoia driving him wild as the Jonin seemed to be contemplating something, he had felt uneasy around authority ever since he had read his father's scroll.

"Ahhh, its that so? It's always nice to see the next generation so eager to protect their village." Naruto replied warmly with a grin plastered across his face still under the guise of the Jonin, this seemed to ease the fretting boy a little but he needed something that would tell the boy he was also planning to escape without being considered suspicious. Suddenly the idea clicked in his head, if he could help Sasuke in some way then perhaps he would be a little more trusted, and display that he was useful all in one move. Still he'd have to reveal himself eventually, he only wanted to use his disguise to avoid suspicion from the wall guards after all.

"Hmm, how about I accompany you?" The Jonin questioned with a gentle smile, he didn't look threatening but Sasuke wasn't fooled yet he was in no position to turn the high ranking man away.  
"Thanks. " The raven answered shortly. Soon the two of them were walking along the great wall that protected the village, Sasuke had made sure to feel along the wall, keeping up his act as they went. Annoyingly it had now become increasingly difficult to monitor the patrols thanks to the Jonin accompanying him, he didn't dare peer up at the patrol for gaps in case the jounin had figured him out.

They had walked some distance then the Jonin suddenly stopped, earning the suspicion of the young uchiha. Sasuke froze in place, staring at the Jonin expectedly, who then slightly titled his head towards the huge wall. Immediately Sasuke saw what he was looking for all along, this section of the wall had no patrols, he was sure that he could make it over this section, using the buildings that were the closest to the wall that he had seen all day. The Uchiha frowned deeply, who was this guy?

" _Whoever this person is, he's been planning."_ Sasuke thought as calmly as he could manage, he had to admit he was a little on guard and obviously suspicious of the man, suddenly he blinked in surprise when with a puff smoke the Jonin disappeared. In place of the man was a miniature blonde, who he instantly recognized as Naruto Uzumaki, the boy he had been searching for the last few days. As the smoke cleared he saw the boy grinning widely staring back at him with kind cerulean eyes.

"Hey." Naruto greeted happily with a large smile on his face, Sasuke was shocked, he'd been fooled, though he accepted his defeat quickly with a smirk as he considered it an advantage, the person that had tricked him was the person he had been searching for, so it had saved him the effort at least.  
He seemed knowledgeable in an escape route too, which instantly made him a valuable ally.  
" _I guess my search is over? Still, best to be on guard."_ Sasuke mused as a smirk spread across his features, he felt it, a strange quickening of his heart beat as adrenalin rushed through his body, he was finally going to escape the village.

"Hn. I've been looking for you _Naruto_." The Uchiha spoke confidently, hoping to surprise the blonde with the fact that he knew who he was, he ran a hand through his midnight hair trying to relieve some of the anxiety he'd had from walking alongside a jounin for so long.  
"I know...I've been watching you the whole time" Naruto replied with a knowing laugh which only served to make the proud Uchiha glare at him with mock distaste,  
"You really helped me out with gettin' to know any possible allies, but I was watching the best person the whole time, talk about lucky!" Naruto chirped enthusiastically to the not so happy looking Uchiha.

"Hn. Well at least I know your not useless." Sasuke spat calmly as he began to walk away from the unmanned segment of the wall they had traveled to. He frowned deeply, not allowing his paranoia of the village to fade, If what he'd found about Naruto was correct, the boy wanted to become Hokage, which by default meant he would be loyal to Konoha.  
"Why should i trust you?" Sasuke questioned while raising an eyebrow in curiosity at the blonde, the raven knew he wasn't the easiest person to win over even on the best of days, so being paranoid only made it worse. He let out a deep breath he didn't know he was holding in, attempting to calm himself a little but still obviously on edge.

Naruto simply frowned at this, for some reason that wasn't what he'd expected from the stoic raven,  
"Whaddya mean why should you trust me?! Why _shouldn't_ you trust me!? I helped you out right?" The blonde huffed childishly, folding his arms and pouting as if to get his point across but he felt onyx eyes studying him, Sasuke didn't buy it.  
"Hn, so you just happened to see me studying the wall? Also you've been tracking my movements, you say it was for your own gain but that could simply be an interrogation technique to gain a common ground with me." The Uchiha mechanically analysed causing the Uzumaki to raise a curious eyebrow his mouth slightly ajar in shock.

"Hmm..." Naruto frowned deeply, his eyes closing in a deep squint as he stroked his chin in a thinking manner, this wasn't what he'd prepared for at all but it was true, Sasuke had no real reason to trust someone that coincidentally knew an escape route from the village, if anything that only made him more suspicious.

"Well you found out stuff 'bout me too right? You should be able to figure out why i know this stuff right?!" Naruto replied confidently, he puffed out his chest a little, thinking he'd won but Sasuke just glared at him coldly.  
"I also know your dream is to become the Hokage." He shot back with a proud smirk, the raven knew his research was thorough, whatever the blonde came up with he'd be able to counter with ease,  
"Tch! Why the hell would I wanna be the Hokage?! The damn villagers kick my ass everyday! You think i wanna be the guy that has to fight for their sake when things go bad!? What planet are you from?" Naruto leaned over, softly knocking his fist on Sasuke's forehead, using it as a make shift door.

The Uchiha growled in annoyance, okay that he wasn't expecting but still, it wasn't over just yet,  
"Yeah well that's not what the villagers say, they told me how you'd run around happily shouting it wherever you went! So why should i believe anything you say to me?" Sasuke interrogated, there was no way in hell he was going to be turned in by some Hokage-wannabe, he was getting out of here.  
"Hmph! I just say that crap so they don't know what i'm really like...they think i'm just some knucklehead who knows nothing about the Kyuubi, i know all about her and I've been training ever since i was young! An' your the first person that knows that so you better trust me god dammit!" Naruto growled in frustration, his stunted social skills weren't really all that prepared for a situation like this.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at the boys sheer honesty, maybe he was just being paranoid? With a sigh he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, if things went wrong he'd just have to deal with it, for now the blonde was his best chance of getting the hell out of here but that didn't mean he had to like it.  
"Hn, whatever, just don't be so annoying, if you're always this loud then we'll never get out of here." Sasuke replied with a bored tone, shoving his hands in his pockets, turning from the blonde and walking away as if done with the blonde for today.  
"Oi! Wait up! Where are you goin'!?" Naruto shouted at the ravens back, suddenly confused, how could he just end the conversation so suddenly? The blonde growled in confusion, wondering if Sasuke was always going to be so difficult to read.

Naruto rose an eyebrow in curiosity when Sasuke tilted his head forward, motioning for the Uzumaki to follow, the blonde now interested did as he was silently asked and began to walk behind the young Uchiha with his head on his hands as they went. After a while it became obvious that Sasuke was leading them to the abandoned Uchiha compound but Naruto still needed to collect his things.

Naruto wordlessly began to walk in the direction of his apartment instead of following the boy to the Uchiha compound, the raven questioned him with a glance, but saw the hand signals for 'halt' and 'river'. The message suddenly made sense to Sasuke as he translated it to mean wait at the pier, the place where they first saw each other, he smirked and gave a nod, feeling the importance of their own personal mission.

Sasuke waited as instructed, staring down at the water below the pier, the tranquil ripples did little ease his nerves. While he was calm and felt no presences nearby, he was still a little on edge, things were going so well he could practically taste his freedom. His Sharingan span as he stared down at the water, he'd activated it just to be sure no one was around, his paranoia getting the better of him as he took the first steps of what he considered to be his way out of the village.

The blonde soon came into view again, except this time he had a simple black backpack with him, much like the raven's own. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this but Naruto walked on inconspicuously as if having nothing to do with the Uchiha. After a short distance the blonde gave a subtle hand signal that indicated he was ready to proceed to the Uchiha compound. The two of them may have been over reacting yet to them it certainly felt like this was a serious ninja mission as bizarre as it may have seemed. This was definitely a mission. A mission to escape Konoha.

The two were chatting until late that night, each of them discussing the many scenarios they had came up with and planned for, each helping to spot the flaws in the others plan. Naruto's plans were some what better prepared, having an ancient demon sealed inside you was apparently more help than he let on. Still they managed to spend a little time talking about their pasts, themselves and their interests and goals, really getting to know each other better than anyone else, they decided this was necessary for full trust and the fact that they were going to be travelling together possibly for the rest of their near futures, they might as well learn to like each other.

The two decided they would rest early.  
Tomorrow they would make their escape.

* * *

Hope you liked it!


	3. The Escape

Chapter 3: The Escape. 

* * *

Two figures silently raced through the eerie constraints of the Uchiha compound; shrouded in dark clothing they were invisible in the pitch black night, the glowing moon above them cast down a gentle silver light to guide them through the darkness, the two of them would make their escape tonight. Heading straight for the exit of the compound, they bolted through the empty streets, launched themselves over the 'do not cross' banner that sectioned off the ghost town and were soon weaving through the short, narrow back alley streets of Konoha, silently slipping towards their destination using a cleverly devised route for optimum stealth.

Leading the way was the blonde, well versed in the shortcuts and hidden alley ways of the village, the two hurtled through the village at a speed unexpected of the average seven year old, though not unheard of, they leapt over fences, jumped along walls and traversed the narrow corridors without a moments hesitation. Thoughts of a silver haired jonin being a Chuunin at the age of seven years old ran through Naruto's mind as he wondered if he too could one day be considered a prodigy, however this was left to the back of his mind as they dashed through Konoha at break neck speeds.

Sasuke could be seen closely behind the blonde, using the red string that Naruto had wrapped around his wrist that he could see with crystal clear clarity thanks to his sharingan, making it easy to follow his new friend down the winding streets, Sasuke's sharingan glowed in the darkness as he swiftly moved towards the nearing escape point, although he wasn't the only one with red eyes at this point.

Naruto's blood red eyes were an effect of being trained by the kyuubi within him, a 'gift' from the great demon that allowed him heightened sight although that was its only ability, although it was no kekkei genkai it was incredibly useful to have and his vision stretched far beyond that of the average human, its vision could be considered parallel to the sharingan however he lacked the other attributes of the Uchiha bloodline.

The air was cold, frosty with the feeling of tension, the streets were silent, yet the two knew that there was definitely ninja present on the streets, this wasn't one of the great shinobi villages for nothing. The tranquil night stars were blinking at the two below as Naruto turned to look at the hokage building for the last time, he admired it for a second, taking in the fiery red building with a hint of sadness washing over him, he frowned deeply in momentary thought.

" _I'll always wonder what it would've been like to be accepted."_ Naruto thought solemnly before steaming on ahead, memories of the hokage were happy ones he had to admit, however the man was a genius shinobi and the leader of a shinobi village, no matter what concern he had shown, Naruto guessed it to be fake or at least out of sympathy, after all he was just a man, a very busy man at that. He had no hard feelings about it, if anything he was happy that the man at least gave him the time of day and was always kind to him. The rest of Konoha didn't share the same sentiments though, they were the ones who had driven him to this, causing him to flee his own village from the sheer force of their resentment, Naruto quickly shook off the idle thoughts, sticking to the task at hand as they raced through the blurring streets.

Sasuke's heart was pounding as he continued on, adrenaline surged through his body pushing him on faster and harder, he was going to do it, all of his hard work was finally paying off, he was making his escape from the village that would want him dead, though he knew that it wouldn't be easy. The plan was to escape the village from the slight gap in the patrol that Naruto had shown him; from there they would simply flee, covering as much ground as they could without stopping for as long as they could. Sasuke had faith in their stamina but he was not so arrogant to believe they could beat jounin or ANBU in a war of attrition, gaining enough ground after escaping would be the truly difficult part.

They had of course in there careful planning considered that if they were to over exhaust themselves in covering ground, then were somehow caught they would be useless to make any sort of attempt at escaping, no they had until around noon the next day before the whole village was aware that they were missing, or so they believed.

As soon as their exhaustion became taxing they were to rest while being as well hidden as they could be, rest was something prioritized highly, their energy would certainly be needed if they were to succeed. Sasuke couldn't help but feel excited, his new life was about to begin, no matter how hard it maybe, he had someone he could truly consider a friend and equal, but he could only imagine what hardships were in store for the both of them.

He looked over at the blonde in front of him, wondering what they would face together in the near future; he wanted to be prepared for whatever it was and couldn't help but feel like the two of them could face any challenge. For the first time in a long while Sasuke felt as if he could trust another person. Sasuke frowned deeply, deciding that now was not the time to get distracted.

With the adrenaline rushing through his body he didn't care about the challenges anymore, he'd never felt such a rush before, he felt alive, he was choosing his own path and making his own decisions, he was escaping! As the blurring streets passed by in his peripheral vision he continued, chasing the red string bound to his friend's wrist as they dashed through the night.

Naruto suddenly leapt, wall jumped three times between the two buildings then when he had enough height, he landed gracefully on the roof, crouching down in an effort to lower his visibility, he was soon joined by Sasuke. Naruto smiled softly to the boy before turning back and looking to the large wall that stood before them, they were just meters away, ready to make the jump.

Naruto took a deep breath, his breath hitching slightly as he looked over the village that would soon become just a distant memory of the life he never wanted, from the corner of his eye he saw the raven looking over the Uchiha compound with hardened eyes. They were ready to move on.  
' _Hmph...for some reason i'm still gunna miss this place.'_ The blonde considered a little sadly, he wished he could of at least stopped at Ichiraku's one last time, to let the old man and Ayame know that he was leaving, he wished he could gaze down on the peaceful village once more from the head of his father's monument, no matter what had happened here, Konoha was his home.

"Ready to go?" Naruto asked a little sadly, thankfully the raven boy didn't question his solemn tone, momentarily Sasuke seemed deep in thought as he gracefully looked over the village, his eyes falling upon the Uchiha compound.  
' _I know I have to leave you all behind...one day, somehow, I will make things right, for all of you.'_ Happy memories of his clan flooded to his mind, the smiling faces that would greet him as Fugaku's son, a wash of pain came over him as his thoughts drifted slightly,  
' _Itachi, why did you do it? Will I ever truly be able to understand you...Nii-san.'_ Sasuke grimaced as he referred to Itachi as his older brother as he once did so affectionately, even when he believed Itachi was fully responsible for his clan's murder it had been difficult.

No matter how many times he declared that he hated his brother and wished for his death, Sasuke couldn't convince himself, the raven loved Itachi more than anything in the world, he was his idol, his ambition, every day he had wished to be able to prove himself yet his caring older brother shown no signs of caring about strength or power. Itachi had been the one to acknowledge him, everyone else simply saw him as an inferior to his older brother, it had haunted him every day of his life, Sasuke had even gained a rather fierce inferiority complex. Still it had been Itachi's gentle smile and brotherly love that had made it difficult for him to resent his older sibling, even after the murder of his clan Sasuke felt the pain of being betrayed by the person who was his whole world.

' _Nii-san, I'll find you...and when I do you have alot to answer for!'_ Sasuke growled softly as his gaze hardened over the Uchiha compound, he clenched his fists so strongly that his knuckles turned white,  
' _I have to grow strong, powerful if you're going to recognise me! I won't let you keep lying anymore!'_ Sasuke felt determination fill his body, for some reason he felt invincible, adrenaline and a wash of emotions he'd never felt in his life surged throughout his mind, for a single moment he felt as if he had limitless potential.

With a stiff nod the Uchiha gave the signal to the blonde, it was time for them to leave Konoha, the patrols that were facing the opposite way wouldn't even notice them slip by as they landed on the wall silently, not taking the time to even steady themselves after landing, they leapt down the huge wall, the wind rushing through their hooded hair and billowing clothing as they made their steep descend.

They glanced at each other a final time, checking everything was in order after the particularly large drop from the wall, the two of them had landed on solid, uneven ground and if they had been unlucky they could of easily broken their ankles. Of course the two boys had applied chakra to their feet as a defence mechanism but still, they were young and easily damaged. The two firmly nodded to each other, clearly showing their determination, the adrenaline and excitement was still fuelling their young bodies, the rush of escaping a major shinobi village was not lost on them. They powered forward as fast they could manage, silently racing through the dense forests that surrounded Konoha, the trees and leaves rustled harshly as the two disturbed the midnight landscape with their sheer speed. They were free.

They dashed determinately through seemingly unending thick forestry, the dense trees and foliage were perfect to mask them from sight, even if they had been followed it would be difficult to clearly pinpoint their locations in a setting like this. Naruto stopped momentarily as did Sasuke, the two had been taking precautions to throw off trackers as best they could, with a cunning, elusive fox like Kyuubi to guide them it was like having an experienced shinobi aiding them in their escape.

" _ **Make sure to travel through any rivers you may come by, the waters will help to wash away your scent making it difficult for those pesky Inuzuka to get a good lead on you."**_ Kyuubi 'spoke' to Naruto through his mind, the blonde nodded a stiff affirmative while watching Sasuke busying himself, the raven was more prepared than he had let on, he was currently perched in a tree.  
"Sasuke? What are you doing now, we don't have time for this!" Naruto yelled in a hushed tone, his whisper sounding almost violent as he tried to make himself heard.

"Tch! This'll buy us some extra time and we need all we can get idiot. It's not all about running you know, there's no way we can simply out run trained ninja." Sasuke spat with irritation, he was trying to concentrate, he didn't have to be reminded of how little time they had, every second was precious right now.  
"Well what are you doing bastard?! Let me help it'll be faster!" Naruto had effortlessly leapt up to the last Uchiha and was currently following the trail of steel wire that had been wrapped around various trees in the surrounding.

"Hn, are you sure you can understand something complicated like this?" Sasuke replied with a proud smirk, if there was anything he was good at it was traps, one time he had even managed to take Itachi off guard, the young raven had completely booby trapped his older brothers training ground with rocks and blunted wooden shuriken and kunai hoping to impress. That had earned him a rather forceful flick to the forehead, much to Sasuke's irritation though Itachi had given him a warm smile, insisting that he had done well.

"Tch, I got it, I got it! Just tell me what to do, jeez! Don't have to be a jerk 'bout it!" Naruto muttered in defence, he had always known he wasn't exactly an intellectual genius, he had learned all he had from hard work and bookworm behaviour, still he wasn't exactly dumb.  
"Just pin kunai to the wire from different trees, make sure they all aim towards the centre of the clearing. " Sasuke stated simply, his tone becoming somewhat commanding as he issued orders to the blonde, Naruto raised an eye brow in curiosity but didn't question his friend and done as he was told.

"Huff! Oi Sasuke!? Are you sure this will help? They'll probably easily see through something like this! If we're gunna waste time setting this up it better be worth it!" A dangerous glint appeared in the eyes of the blonde, Sasuke wasn't the only one who had experience with traps, his prankster grin formed on his foxy features before he spoke again,  
"We should add more layers right, it's harder to dodge a trap if it sets of even more traps all around the place!" Naruto threw his arms around animatedly, if they were going to make a trap they were going to do it properly!

"Of course idiot, who do you think you're talking to here?" A victorious smirk fell across Sasuke's porcelain features as Naruto frowned, crossing his arms in defiance, he was even pouting like the small child he was.  
"Yeah, yeah! Just hurry up! We might as well use whatever we can find." With a single cross hand seal Naruto muttered his signature technique, five clones popped into existence, the blonde had only given them a tiny amount of chakra, maybe about twenty minutes worth, which given his reserves was barely noticeable at all.

It was now the raven's turn to glance at his blonde partner in crime in interest, he didn't know there could be solid clones, he watched as they poofed into existence all wearing a cheesy foxy grin,  
"Go and collect anything of use, plenty of rocks and big tree branches!" Naruto ordered merrily and with a proud nod the clones raced off, scattering around the clearing to make themselves busy, it wasn't long before they came back with logs of various sizes and handfuls of rocks.

"What are you plotting?" Sasuke asked sternly, unable to hide his curiosity any longer, to his annoyance a proud grin fell across the blonde's features, yet he said nothing,  
"I doubt rocks are going to have much effect against trained hunters." Sasuke mocked flatly, watching as the blonde attached large quantities of the natural projectiles to the wiring that was spread all around the clearing. They had wrapped the steel ninja wire around ten trees of the clearing, giving them almost three hundred and sixty degree coverage, the kunai and shuriken were likely to injure anyone who was in the centre of the small forest area.

Naruto continued in silence to load up rocks on to the wire, Sasuke frowned, from the way Naruto was setting everything up it just didn't make sense, it seemed like he wanted the rocks to rain down both before and after the shuriken and kunai had been fired. It just didn't really make sense to the raven, much to his irritation. The blonde was used to working with whatever he had while running away from the villagers, traps like this came naturally to him.

"The rocks aren't meant to do damage, _idiot_." Naruto shot back with a superior smirk of his own as he put extra volume on his last word, causing the irritable Uchiha to frown angrily at that,  
"They're a distraction, wouldn't it be harder to dodge kunai or shuriken from all angles while you're distracted from being pelted by rocks? They're like a feint." The blonde explained with a dangerous glint in his eyes, traps were like fun little, life endangering puzzles to him.

"Hn, so the rocks after are to dull the senses of the hunters after the shuriken and kunai have gone off, It will be difficult for them to stay on guard or fully alert when being attacked from multiple angles, not being sure which attacks are real and which are distractions." Sasuke summarized with a knowing nod of understanding causing the blonde to give him a rather lame thumbs up and a happy foxy grin.

"Hn, and what about those?" Sasuke questioned quietly as he watched the clones setting up huge logs to fall from the trees once the logs had been fired off, the weight of the rocks were holding the logs in place and once they were gone the logs would spring to action.  
"This is just the next phase of the trap! Getting hit by one of these would hurt!" Naruto nodded at his own genius as his clones went about their tasks. Sasuke didn't seem convinced though and with a proud smirk of his own he moved over to the clones.

"Hmph, I can do better than that, _idiot._ " He shot back as the two continued to out-do each other, Naruto growled in annoyance but said nothing as he watched his raven friend go to work, the boy was slapping small paper slips all over the logs.  
"Explosion tags? Why didn't I think of that?" Naruto questioned thoughtfully as the last Uchiha finished up strapping the dangerous seal tags to the logs, not only would those explosions be big enough to rock the whole clearing with just one tag but the splintered logs would act as dangerous shrapnel, if the ninja's trailing them were even within the clearing at this point, some damage would be done.

"Hn! Don't underestimate me!" Sasuke growled out much to Naruto's surprise, the blonde widened his eyes as Sasuke placed yet more tags from his backpack down on the floor of the clearing, in amongst leaves and foliage, it was definitely a good idea to raid and seal away the Uchiha clan's arsenal of explosion tags and supplies.  
"More tags? Isn't that a bit wasteful? There's already enough explosives on the logs." Naruto said flatly, questioning the sanity of his Uchiha friend, at this point it just seemed a little over kill, the blonde realized now that his clones only had around ten minutes remaining of their life span, he decided to make use of them.

"You guys! Run off in all different directions and make as much mess as you can! Make it really super obvious that someone had been running that way! Kick up leaves, mark trees, do whatever you can!" Naruto ordered happily, with grins of natural troublemakers the shadow clones raced off into the night, overjoyed with their task of simply leaving a mess in their wake.  
"Hn, not a bad idea." Sasuke somewhat complimented flatly, not taking his eyes of the tags he was littering around the clearing, he frowned, realizing he hadn't actually answered the blonde yet as he'd focused on his work.

He held up two of the many seals he was placing around the area, much to Naruto's confusion, then the raven merely flipped it over, revealing smoke bombs strapped to one of the seals while the other was left blank.  
"Duds?" Naruto asked with a questioning gaze, his eye brows had lifted in surprise which made Sasuke grin victoriously, the raven had been placing fake explosive seals that would only detonate the smoke bombs with their fuse but he'd also been placing down, real, live explosive seals that would have enough fire power to seriously injure anyone within the blast radius, these weren't just any commercial tags, these were tags used for demolition, breaking and entry. These had been the tags created by the Uchiha to storm the Hokage tower and surrounding political buildings such as the hospital or governing buildings.

"Not just duds, these seals were going to be used to raid buildings." Sasuke replied without a sign of emotion, Naruto realized his friends voice had hardened somewhat, of course the blonde had knew all about the clan and the truth left by Sasuke's father, they had discussed it when asking one another what their reasons for leaving Konoha were.  
"Sasuke, those are likely to kill the people chasing us, you know that right?" The blonde asked with a fixed gaze, sure they had been setting up traps with kunai and shuriken, but shinobi had many ways to deal with projectiles like that, but these explosives would decimate the clearing entirely.

Sasuke didn't say anything much to Naruto's concern, the blonde gulped at the tension,  
"Oi Sasuke, you realize if we kill members of Konoha we might be made missing nin right? I mean...I'm not sure if we will be added to the books cause we're not exactly ninja right, but we'll be criminals after this for sure." The young Uzumaki spoke with wisdom far above his age, causing the raven to glare at him, If there was one thing that irritated Sasuke, it was stating the obvious.  
"True, but I only got the idea to use these after your clones had ran off. It was perfect actually." Sasuke explained though it only served to make the blonde widen his cerulean eyes in curiosity, though he appreciated the praise.

"It's doubtful that anyone would blame us for a trap of this level. In fact I don't think a trap of this nature has been made around these parts for a long time." Sasuke stated, not exactly getting to the point of all this, Naruto frowned, hoping to avoid a history lesson from the grumbling Uchiha.  
"It's much more likely that this trap was made by an Uchiha, an Uchiha who was extremely skilled and knew how to slow or kill any trackers that followed him." Sasuke's gaze hardened and he frowned deeply at the mere thought of what he was planning to do.  
"...Itachi Uchiha." The raven wordlessly took out one of the light purple ANBU jackets as well as a vial of fake blood, he'd initially taken the blood to create footsteps that would cause misdirection, the trick was to apply it to ninja sandals, then step around the place, causing rather visible footprints, the perfect red herring.

He worked on staining the jacket, splashing the blood around it in a believable manner, it was made to look like someone else's blood, the tell tale signs that the wearer had slashed open an enemy in a rather cruel manner.  
' _This might be a little_ _ **too**_ _accurate.'_ Sasuke thought sadly as he walked out of the clearing, ripping and tearing the jacket as he did, it looked aged as if it had seen better days, Sasuke climbed to a particularly high tree around three hundred meters from their trap. He wrapped the jacket around one of the branches, setting the scene. To tracking ninja it would appear as if Itachi had discarded the jacket on the run, the trap just before it had been set to stop anyone from reaching this piece of incriminating evidence, of course there was barely any scent of Itachi left on the aged piece of clothing.  
' _Sorry for this...Nii-san. I know you'd be able to deal with any trouble this might cause you.'_ Sasuke grimaced at his apologetic tone, it reminded him of just how young he really was, it almost made him wish his older brother was here to smile warmly at him and show him guidance.

Naruto crossed his arms patiently as the young raven stepped back into view, the blonde stayed silent, knowing that it couldn't have been easy on the young Uchiha to do what he'd just done,  
"So the smoke bombs will go off at the beginning right? Then the rocks, then kunai and shuriken, more rocks, tree logs and explosives and then if anyone is still in the area for whatever reason, these explosives will finish the job?" The blonde summarized only to receive a stiff, determined nod from the last Uchiha, Naruto had to admit this place was now literally a death trap.

"Hopefully they will get out of the clearing before that." Sasuke muttered much to Naruto's surprise, he thought at this point the raven was completely uncaring to Konoha and its citizens,  
"It would be troublesome if they realised this was actually created by us, that would make us murderers rather than runaways after all." Sasuke explained causing Naruto to sigh, that was more the answer he'd been expecting from his new friend, but he didn't really care in the end. The blonde steeled himself, Konoha was likely to be his enemy in the future and he should prepare himself to think as such. Now they were nothing but shinobi.

"We should get going, let's head in a different direction to north for a little while, otherwise it would be too obvious who planted that jacket. With the different ways the clones ran off, the jacket and us going in a completely different direction, this trap could slow them down for hours. Especially if they're injured...after all we've used almost everything we'd sealed from the Uchiha compound." Naruto stopped himself from adding that they might actually kill a bunch of shinobi with their trap, he didn't really enjoy the thought of killing, it made him feel dizzy.

"Oi, Sasuke? Why did you have your brothers clothes anyways?" Naruto asked with a deep frown coating his face, he was clearly thinking to hard about something, the raven merely huffed at him, shrugging his shoulders while turning around to face the young blonde,  
"The only clothing I have is my training gear that i'm wearing right now, I was too busy planning to escape to think about getting more clothes so I brought along some of Itachi's things, I can cut them however I need and they'll last until we can head into some of the smaller towns at least." Sasuke explained casually, to his surprise Naruto let out an amused chuckle at his expense  
"Y'know you could of just borrowed some of mine right?" The Uzumaki questioned happily, a knowing smirk was plastered across his cheery features yet Sasuke merely looked at him with disinterest.  
"I have my pride you know." He replied in a deadpan tone, Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment trying to understand what the elusive Uchiha meant, clearly he was insulting the blonde,  
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" Naruto spat back in playful annoyance but the raven scoffed, not interested in the topic any longer, though Sasuke would never admit it, he felt as if he needed to bring along at least something that reminded him of the only family he had left alive.

" _ **The two of you have done well. We better get moving again, we've already used half an hour here."**_ Kyuubi instructed her blonde host with a serious tone he wasn't quite used to, he frowned,  
' _Still it was good that we managed to rest while making this...we'll be able to move faster at least for a little while.'_ Naruto responded within his mind, he felt Kyuubi nod with satisfaction,  
" _ **Don't worry kit, we have good chance of being free as long as we make up enough ground. Setting more traps along the way might be a good idea, though maybe not so lethal if you don't wish to kill your trackers.'**_ The nine tailed fox explained thoughtfully, while she didn't particularly care if anyone from Konoha met their end, thanks to the way they had treated her host, she had to admit that the young Uchiha had a point, the two boys being marked as wanted criminals would make it harder for them to enter towns or villages within the fire country at a later date.

Without another word to one another two young boys raced off once again, they had veered to the east slightly, not wanting to head immediately north, though later along their path they soon steered west, eventually righting their non-existent path to head north. The earthy mud below them offered no sympathy to their aching legs as the varying terrain only served to make running as uncomfortable as possible, they had no idea how far they had gotten, but it wasn't far enough.

Seeing a small flowing river in the near distance of the clearing they were racing through, the boys headed straight for it, rushing through it without faltering in order to put off their pursuers. The boys hoped that the simple trick would help to buy them even a little extra time, and when escaping from a major hidden village any, any extra time was good time.

Their breathing had become extremely ragged as their bodies struggled to get the oxygen they needed, but the two didn't stop, they weren't tired yet, the two were just feeling the strain of testing their limits. They could go on for hours still, they had to or they would surely be caught and all of their efforts would have been in vain. The two runaways valiantly soldiered on past the tempting offer of resting or setting up camp, using all of the techniques that hid their tracks that they could remember in an effort to at least delay whoever was sent after them. Naruto had even made clones every so often, each with only ten minute time limits, the chakra burn was almost none existent to the blonde, yet the clones were able to make simple, badly constructed rock traps as well as rush off in different misleading directions.

Hours had rolled by and they began to slow, the blurring landscape became more and more visible as time passed, their legs were heavy, their bodies refused to go on until eventually they came to stop. At this point they had each eaten ration bars while on the move, they had even taken a soldier pill just to give them that extra kick of chakra to force them to continue onwards but by now they were run ragged. Staring up tiredly at the radiant sun in the crystal clear blue morning sky they assumed it to be around ten AM, they had covered a large distance across the fire country, and would have to find a monument or nearby town to check their map to figure out exactly where they were.

For now though, they were sat catching their breath in a hidden cave, deciding that their best course of action would be to sleep, being deprived of it would surely have negative effects on them. The boys knew that in the day light the cave could be a suspicious area which would no doubt be checked by a tracking team. They just hoped that by the time they woke up that distance they had covered would make up the difference. They had ran for twelve hours straight and were about to indulge in eight hours of rest once they had eaten.

The two sat in silence while eating, not quite knowing what to say to each as they enjoyed the sensation of simply relaxing a little, the two finished their meals with thoughts of how to survive the next day racing through their minds. Naruto said goodnight which eased the atmosphere between the two, and soon they were fast asleep only hoping that that their best was good enough. They had raced across fire country like a speeding bullet train, clearing miles upon miles of land, yet they knew that their pace would have been easy to match by older, more experienced shinobi.

It was two PM, the third Hokage had just received some devastatingly shocking news, in fact he wasn't quite sure how to combat the situation at hand. He had just been alerted to disappearance of the last Uchiha and the nine tails jinchuuriki, a heavy blow to the village even if they were but children. The elderly man frowned, he had an unwavering belief that the two of them would become strong, how powerful he wasn't sure, in fact their escape might have doomed them to an early grave.

The old man sighed heavily, he had the irritating village elders breathing down his neck to send out tracking squads, Hiruzen agreed it would be for the best, the two would be great assets to the village when they grew older. As of now they worryingly had the potential to be great enemies. Currently the only strength the village had lost was their tailed beast their military was not actually affected by the runaways, and for this the Hokage was thankful for but it didn't little to alleviate his crushing headache, he was far too old for this nonsense.

Sarutobi doubted that he could ever realign them with Konoha now, after all he knew what Sasuke knew. It turns out that the head of the Uchiha had far better insight than he had let on, the third nodded to himself sternly as he remembered that Itachi Uchiha was son of the clan head and he shown insight to the degree of it being like seeing the future. No, Sasuke Uchiha would not be fighting for Konoha any time soon and the Sandaime certainly did not believe in brain washing, much to Danzo's chagrin.

As for Naruto he imagined that the situation within the village walls had finally became unbearable for the poor young boy, a sad smile fell across his tired, elderly features, he felt truly sympathetic to the blonde. he was surprised he didn't pick up on the blondes plan to leave the village when he had visited his apartment just yesterday. It was unfortunate yet he had a whole village to think of, if he was seen to be too friendly with the young jinchuuriki things could quickly turn sour, leading to uproars and in-subordination, leaving the leaf village prone to enemy attacks and spies. He'd already had enough trouble with the Uchiha acting so dangerously.

He had no choice; he turned to the ANBU within the room, a heavy, tired sigh escaping him,  
"Mark down Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto as A rank missing nin. If they are seen, they are to be treated as immediate enemies of Konoha, however do not engage until their motives are known. Send out tracking teams, give them until midnight tomorrow, maybe it isn't too late to clear up this mess." The man said in a hardened tone, he finished speaking, taking a long drag on his pipe before exhaling the calming smoke to fill the room.

"Excuse me Hokage-sama…" The brave ANBU stepped forward, bowing as he did so, clearly not trying to anger the powerful Kage level ninja that sat in front of him, yet he couldn't let this slide,  
"I don't mean to question your judgement, but don't you think A-rank is a little…far fetched? They're just kids!" The man passionately spoke, after all there was no way a couple of brats could be considered A rank threats, a frown had deeply set across the Jounin's features, surely the young boys weren't so powerful?

The Sandaime tiredly closed his eyes letting out another hollow sigh as he did so, he wasn't sure he was making the correct decision either, truthfully it pained him to make such a call,  
"The reason I have ranked them so highly is not because of their current strength, and technically the two of them cannot even be classed as missing ninja as they didn't even join our ranks." The elder explained, his own frown washing over his aged features, currently it felt like his best option even if he wasn't truly convinced himself.

"Then…?" The ANBU questioned curiously, still confused of the Hokages motives, it didn't really make any sense to him, surely the boys would be hunted down for the bounty if nothing else.  
"Those two are in possession of things that many people would wish to obtain, if they were ranked at their current power they would surely not survive. Which would a person be more likely to attack, an A rank threat or a C rank?" The Hokage explained sternly to the somewhat puzzled Anbu operative.

"Despite being runaways the two of them are still Konoha citizens…not even ninja, they should technically be allowed to leave the village at any time… due to kyuubi and the sharingan however…" Hiruzen grumbled before he trailed off as if not wanting to continue the thought, it somehow disgusted him how people could be treated as mere extensions of Konoha, tools, weapons.

"So you wish to protect them from threats? …I see… but Hokage-sama, if I may, what about the time limit given to the tracking squad…it doesn't make much sense." The man nervously offered. The third let out a grumble in his frustration. The ANBU gave an uncharacteristic huff from behind his Inu mask, this was his sensei's legacy at stake here, he couldn't simply let them be added to the bingo books, they'd be hunted down and killed, or worse.  
"I think _not_ adding them to the books at all would be much better, track them as long as needed, if they're going to be hunted down by anyone it may as well be from Konoha, we can protect them here in the village!" Kakashi suddenly found strength in his determination, he wouldn't let Minato's child be slaughtered or worked in to the ground as a weapon of war.

"It is as I said. They deserve their freedom, if they can escape a high ranking tracking squad for that length of time they will at least show that they are capable of looking after themselves…if not then…they are not ready. The two of them however, are no longer interested in Konoha. If we bring them back, they will only rebel or attempt to escape again, still if they are not ready at very least we can delay them until they are." Sarutobi replied somewhat sadly, in all honesty he would miss the young blonde dearly, Naruto was more like a grandchild to him than even his blood relative.

"Still, listing them as missing nin will only cause more trouble, what if Iwa were to learn of Naruto or his heritage? They might even be the ones to capture him. What if Kumo were the ones to snag the Uchiha? The boys might not be strong right now Hokage-sama but eventually they could be killing machines." The ANBU operative spoke coldly before bowing low, he wasn't trying to undermine the Hokage, yet he believed with all of his heart that this was the wrong decision to make, there was simply too much at stake.

Hiruzen frowned deeply, the action causing even more wrinkles to set upon his tired, aged face,  
"Perhaps you are right young Inu, maybe I have become naive in this time of strained peace..." The third Hokage took a long, deep puff of his trusty pipe, filling the room once again with the calming smoke that swamped his office.  
"Fine, I shall not add them to the bingo books. As they grow I will continue to send squads of hunter-nin after them over the years, we'll attempt to keep track of them as best we can, their motives and goals could be a danger to Konoha, still we will not be thinning our man power simply to babysit two runaways, I will be only deploying what we have spare." The Hokage conceded finally much to the relief of the silver haired ANBU captain, he felt a rather heavy weight lifted from his shoulders at that, perhaps there was still hope of bringing back his Sensei's only child.

"You realise what this means however?...I doubt these children will ever wish to return to Konoha." Sarutobi's features hardened, reminding the Inu ANBU member just why he was sitting behind the Kage desk, this was the 'God Of Shinobi' , ' The Professor' a man who had mastered all five elements and survived various shinobi wars for a reason. Inu managed to glare at the man as he felt his heart constrict slightly, surely the Hokage wasn't trying to imply what he thought he was?  
"I will pass my orders to the rest of the shinobi, do not engage Naruto or Sasuke without _clear_ understanding of their understanding or motives... something tells me Konoha would be wise to be friend rather than foe." The third explained while pulling out papers from a drawer in his proud oak desk, he began scribbling down various orders, all relating to the two young runaways yet Kakashi didn't leave, apparently he was not yet satisfied.

"And if they resist the Hunter-nins, Hokage-sama?" He questioned quietly, a hint of sadness in his voice as if he would rather not know the answer, Inu knew this was not as simple as he first hoped,  
"I will have the Hunter-nins attack them for information rather than capture." The elderly man folded his fingers together, gently resting his chin on them with a tired sigh as he continued,  
"Dragging them back here will do us no good, if they want to leave now then forcing them to stay would be unwise, even if they were to become shinobi for the leaf, who knows if they would remain loyal. They may even flee during a mission...or worse, betray us." Hiruzen grumbled wisely leaving Kakashi nodding in agreement, unfortunately he'd heard of similar cases in other hidden villages.

"As long as we know they aren't affiliated with other villages, or out spreading tyranny, then we can sleep easy, ne? Kakashi." For the first time during this meeting Sarutobi offered a gentle, peace loving smile, the scarecrow jounin couldn't help but offer an eye smile from behind his mask, this was the best he was going to get from the Hokage, and in his opinion it could of turned out alot worse for the two young runaways. Most jinchuriki that escaped would be turned into emotionless weapons after all.

The ANBU tracking squad had left immediately, they wasted no time when it came to the hunt, they figured the runaways would have an easy trail, being as young as they were, to their disappointing surprise the small boys seemed to have a talent in concealing their presence. The recent runaways had covered their tracks shockingly well, making it difficult to pinpoint the direction the boys had traveled. Tsume Inuzuka smirked, even after asking the patrolling wall guards from the midnight shift they had found no evidence, it was only when they searched the nearby forests that she managed to pick up a scent, it was a good job she liked a good challenge. Her feral grin spread across her features, it had been a while since she'd led a pack on a hunt.

Rocketing through the landscape at a pace that only jounin could handle, the tracking team surged on through the land of fire, racing after their objectives, yet again their lead went cold. Tsume growled, her brow furrowing in irritation, this had always been the annoying side of tracking.  
"Tch! I don't smell 'em anywhere round here. Looks like we're stoppin' again boys!" The feral Inuzuka barked out in command, there was a collective groan from her team as they instantly began searching their surroundings for any hidden clues.

Stopping and starting during a hunt was nothing to ANBU, they were soon at It again as they followed the strange, twisting routes towards their targets. The Inuzuka clan head was clearly more irritated than usual, likely due to being rendered an ordinary jonin thanks to two brats and their ability to remove their scent from the area by travelling through so many rivers. She snarled under her mask, maybe she'd have to rough 'em up a bit if they ever managed to find the small runaways.

' _Hmph! Talented or not, the little pups will be runnin' with their tails between their legs when I get my hands on 'em!'_ She thought mischievously while an evil smirk fell across her features, Tsume imagined herself dragging them back to Konoha by their ears, similarly to how she punished her young Kiba. She frowned a little sadly, thanking the gods that it wasn't her little one who had fled the village.

"Oi Captain! There's something over here, this is where the new trail ends, its obvious that someone has been through this forest." One of the ANBU yelled in a stiff, reporting manner, no one in their right mind wanted to annoy Tsume Inuzuka, unless they wanted to be scarred for life that is,  
"The brats?" She questioned with her eyebrows raising in curiosity, yet her squad member merely shrugged his shoulders with a sigh, he looked around the seemingly innocent clearing,  
"It's difficult to tell, from here the trail spreads out in seven different directions, one heading north, four east, two west." The man replied stoically from behind his mask, Tsume nodded an affirmative and leapt down from the tree branch she was currently perched upon, leading the rest of her squad into the small clearing.

Her ears perked up suddenly as the unmistakable sound pierced the area, steel cable groaned under pressure then with an immediate cracking noise the cables surrounding them on all sides suddenly snapped. Tsume's eyes widened in horror as understanding washed across her face, she'd fallen straight into a trap along with the rest of her squad, she instinctively raised her arms up to defend herself, as did the rest of the ANBU.

The sounds of blunt projectiles hitting their marks echoed around the clearing as the ANBU stumbled around, the force of the barrage of rocks causing them to wince and step around the clearing in order to maintain their footing and avoid the worst of the blows.  
"Rocks!?" Tsume yelled in confusion while lowering her face safely behind her arms, she had to admit it was more of an annoyance than a trap but it was slowing them down all the same, so she supposed it had its purpose.

Tssssss. The ANBU all tensed as the rocks continued to pelt them from multiple angles, the familiar sound washed over the clearing, it took only a second before they realized what it was,  
"Explosives, take cover!" Tsume roared with authority, it was too late though, the fuses had come to an end, she closed her eyes in fear, this could be the last thing she ever did...then, nothing.  
Pshhhh. A new sound suddenly flooded the small forest clearing, thick grey clouds rose from the ground coating the area in a shroud of smoke. Tsume squinted in an attempt to see while coughing violently, they'd been had.  
"Fakes?" She questioned with irritation only to let out a few more fierce coughs, she slowly glanced around as best she could, it seemed her teammates weren't fairing any better than she was, they'd underestimated whoever had made this trap.

Rocks suddenly pelted them again from various angles leaving them at wits end, their guard was up and the whole squad looked nervous, clearly on edge. It was then that they realised how deadly this clearing really was. The startling sound of kunai and shuriken piercing the air echoed around the silent forest, flying down at them from odd, precise angles, the shinobi squinted desperately in an attempt to see while doing their best to dodge out of the way.

Most of the members had received at least a few deep cuts from the lethal kunai strike but nothing major, the shuriken had been mostly ineffective too, missing their targets by small distances. Then rocks again, barraging them from all angles, the ANBU again threw up their arms in attempt to shield themselves, it seemed unending. Then a much larger batch of kunai and shuriken rained down from the trees, this time at a complete three hundred and sixty degree angle, for the ANBU that could barely even see, it was difficult to know what projectiles were real and which were the less lethal sharp rocks.

"Gyak!" A member cried out in pain as kunai and shuriken littered his arms and legs, he went down silently, falling to his knees and slumping to the soft earth below, most of the other ANBU faired a little better, only receiving the odd gash or cut, even Tsume had one of the deadly shuriken lodged painfully in her shoulder. She let out a fierce growl, ripping it out of her flesh as she jumped back to avoid yet another barrage of kunai.

The smoke was beginning to clear but only slightly, a little of their vision was returning, and now it seemed the ranged projectiles had all been expended. Tsume glanced around the clearing in annoyance, one of their squad was wounded, and most of them had been caught in the crossfire, it was a good job they had their masks to protect their faces otherwise they would have been littered with scars.

Then as if from out of nowhere, huge tree branches shot forward into the clearing at a velocity that could easily render any man unconscious, thankfully for the ANBU squad, their reactions saved them from a nasty knockout. They glared angrily at the five logs that now hung calmly in the clearing, still attached to trees high above them.

"Tch! What a pain in the ass! Could this get any worse!?" Tsume barked out aggressively, she couldn't believe she'd fell into a trap so dangerous, she was a tracking ninja, it was her job to avoid this kind of thing! Tssssss. The Inuzuka clan head wished she had the time to sigh and complain, yet she leapt from her position as fast as possible, these explosive seals were no duds, the fuse was much too loud. Her eyes widened in horror, there was still one of her team members in the clearing!

Fearlessly, the feral women leapt into danger, throwing the large man over her shoulder as if he were weightless, she had just seconds to get out otherwise she'd be killed for sure, it was then that she realized what it felt like to fear for your life. Much louder fuses shook the clearing from below, she could feel the heat at her feet as they quickly burned away. For the first time in her ninja career Tsume completely frozen, staring at the ground with clear horror on her face. She was going to die.

"Hyuk!" Tsume grunted in pain as she felt a weight slam into her stomach, she doubled over, allowing the force to rocket her from the clearing with only moments to spare, she slid across the ground of the surrounding forest on her back feeling a sense of relief she smirked proudly as she looked up at her Nin-dog, Kuromaru who had hit her with an under powered fang over fang, effectively saving her from the blast, she looked to her side, glad she managed to hold on to her comrade despite the pain. The Inuzuka clan head had no time to speak though as she jumped to her feet, grabbed her squad member and leapt even further away from the clearing, Tsume knew her ANBU squad had done the same.

A terrifying explosion rocked the earth, the clearing erupted into wooden splinters and multiple, layered explosions, each detonating a millisecond after the next, that was only the beginning. The seals littered around the forest floor ignited in a crystal clear blue, the tags had been finely crafted with enhanced fuinjutsu, though they were clearly the work of an old Uchiha blacksmith that had fallen during the clan's massacre.

The blue chakra ignited along with the paper seal, causing the many explosions to grow exponentially in force, the forest glowed a painful white as light ravaged the area, smoke, flames and further explosions continued to shock the wounded landscape. The great trees fell injured, ripped from their roots, many of them snapping and falling or imploding due to the sheer force of the terrifying blasts. Tsume hastily covered her eyes and Kuromaru buried his face into her ribs, shielding his eyes from the blinding light, smoke billowed into the sky and the crippling power of the explosions caused a great wind to wash over the area, causing the hunter-nin's to gasp for their breath as it was sucked away from them.

The worst of it faded, only leaving fire and charred black ground, snapped trees and a badly injured forest, it seemed as if her team had somehow managed to survive the assault, a deep frown fell over Tsume's face, knowing that she could of been the one to lead her team to their graves.  
"There's no way that was made by a couple of brats!...Those were demolition seals, seals used for bringing down whole buildings!" The Inuzuka loudly shouted out to no one in particular, she panted desperately for her breath, letting out a heavy sigh as she did, right now she just felt lucky to be alive.

She threw her arms out either side of her, closing her eyes and allowing her body a moment of rest, she knew she liked a challenge but _this_ was a little much. Tsume frowned in annoyance as she heard a hazy voice reach her ears, her fierce eyes flickered open, much to her irritation, as she heard the voice call out to her once again, only far more clearer this time.  
"Captain!...We found this just north of this clearing, I believe we've found who was responsible for this trap. Tch...and to think that I almost believed it was those little brats!" The ANBU male grumbled as he proudly displayed the evidence to Tsume.

She let out a low, grumbling growl, just from the sight of the ANBU attire she recognised that faint scent, a deadly fierce look came about her features as her fists clenched until her knuckles turned white. She hated this man more than anything, to her, family was everything, yet this man had butchered his own clan like lamb to the slaughter, the blood that ran across the jacket clearly evidence of that.  
"Uchiha...Itachi." She muttered out softly with a pained expression, no wonder she had almost lost her life, that man was leagues above her, as much as she hated to admit it. In all honesty Tsume felt relief knowing that he wasn't lingering around to finish them off.

It was around six PM when the boys awoke, the two could hear the chirping of crickets in the nearby forestry and the sun had already began to fall, making the sky melt into a golden orange dream. Naruto and Sasuke had quickly packed up everything before setting fire to the whole cave, any evidence of who had been there would be disposed of with the flames, it was a risky tactic but the time that their trackers would spend looking for evidence would buy them some time, as little as it may be. Though their trap was effective the boys had no way of knowing that, to them it was better to not take any chances, they didn't want to risk being dragged all the way back to Konoha after travelling so far after all.

"We need to move again." Sasuke stated stoically to which the blonde sat opposite him nodded, it was easy for Naruto to tell that his new friend was feeling the pressure, one look at the raven shown that he was clearly on edge, Naruto supposed he better attempt to ease the tension.  
"They should've probably been getting close by now...maybe our trap worked after all?" Naruto asked with a forced cheeky grin, they had only slept for eight hours like planned which should have a little time left, but not much. Truthfully the two of them expected hunter-nins by now.  
"They'll be expecting us to go to the border. Maybe it would be better to do the opposite." Sasuke thought aloud to the blonde who raised an eyebrow curiously, the raven managed a proud smirk at that, Konoha would never expect them to travel west.  
"We'll head into the thicker forests but we'll have to be careful, Old man Hokage said the west was filled with bandits, the deeper forests aren't usually used by shinobi as they don't really lead to any civilizations." The blonde informed wisely, showing off some off his bookworm like knowledge, Sasuke nodded in agreement and with that the two raced off into the sunset, leaving the blazing cave to be discovered by any pursuers.

' _It seems we will be living in the wilderness from now on.'_ Sasuke thought with a frown, he imagined living in the wild and while they did only bring basic camping equipment he was fairly sure they could survive in the wild for short periods at a time, being constantly on the move would mean that they would also be harder to find. Eventually though they would need to make stops within some of the smaller villages or towns to restock their limited supplies.

Naruto glanced over to Sasuke with concern, the raven was silent while in deep thought, the two were still rather paranoid and the tension was starting to make the two of them feel a little uneasy in the moment of quiet. The idea of being enemies to Konoha was finally sinking in, although it would usually be perfectly fine for ordinary civilians to leave the village, even at such a young age, the last member of a prestigious clan and the nine tailed jinchuuriki weren't considered ordinary civilians.  
" _Hmph! Bet the damn villagers are already wanting me dead!"_ The blonde thought angrily with a huff, he was glad that he would no longer have to deal with Konoha's society, they were the bane of his existence, without them holding him down the blonde knew he'd be so much happier, he'd probably grow stronger too!

"We should stay away from villages and main roads as much as possible for now, I'm not sure exactly where we are right now, but if we try to out run them in a straight line they'll definitely catch us." Naruto spoke wisely, his experience with running away had really helped them but he doubted they had much time before the ANBU were hot on their tail, it just seemed to be going _too_ well, it made them wonder if their trap had actually killed any ANBU that may have trailed them.

"The orders to track us would surely have been given by now…" Sasuke sighed tiredly, unsure how to continue, after collecting his thoughts he spoke again with a deep frown dressing his face.  
"I'm not sure what we can do if they spot us, but I'm not going back there." He spoke with determination, his fists clenched at the thought of being dragged back to the village they had just escaped.

Naruto looked back in agreement, the two of them had worked far too hard to return, this is their true path, far away from the village that had made their lives almost unbearable.  
"If they find us we have no choice but to keep running, we're no match for them." The blonde replied in a disappointed tone, the young Uzumaki eyes held a certain fire to them, clearly determined in his decision. Sasuke let out a low growl of annoyance before answering, he hated the thought of being weaker than anyone, the thought of being powerless but he pushed it the back of his mind for the time being, there was more important things to worry about.  
"Let's move." With that the two of them sped up, entering the denser forests as they travelled further west, the trees were unimaginably tall, towering far above the earth, thanks to this they'd be able to travel by jumping through tree tops without leaving too much of a trace. Naruto grinned mischievously, it would take hours for unskilled hunters to check the many branches of these large trees for any clear indication of which path they'd taken.

"Oi Sakura!? Have you heard the news!?" A young blonde bellowed at her friend, unable to contain her emotion, she'd always been a bit of a gossip but this was different, she honestly felt heartbroken when she had found out. The pinkette covered her ears on reflex, Sakura had only recently starting coming out of her shell thanks to Ino, the cherry blossom girl had always been quiet and considerate, a small smile blessed her features, it was troubling how loud Ino could be sometimes.

"Naruto has run away from the village!" The bubbly blonde yelled in clear dismay, yet Sakura didn't seem all that interested, did she really have no idea what was going on? The news had spread like wild fire across the village, _everyone_ knew by now!  
"Naruto has?...Well they'll catch him right? My parents always tell me to stay away from him, I think he might be dangerous or something...I don't really get it..." Sakura rambled as she thought aloud; there was no way the Hokage would let them be in danger, so if Naruto was really as scary as her parents made out, she was confident he'd be found.

Ino sighed angrily, not realizing she had missed out most of the details of her announcement, instead she only wondered how Sakura could possibly care about something like that in such a crisis, the Yamanaka huffed in annoyance, unable to deal with it anymore as she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted childishly.  
"I don't care about that! I heard that Sasuke-kun has left with him!" The blonde groaned loudly, she felt so hopeless, there was nothing she could do about the situation as much as she wanted to, she may never see Sasuke again, just the thought made her want to cry.

"Huh? Sasuke-kun has? But everyone likes Sasuke-kun, not like Naruto, I mean I guess he must be hurt from losing his family but leaving the village is dangerous!" Sakura continued to vent her thoughts aloud only this time she was clearly distressed.  
" _Please be safe Sasuke-kun...I know things in the village must be hard right now but running away just isn't right. I know the people here annoy you but Konoha is your home, someone will find you eventually!"_ She thought as she let her mind drift to the raven, she didn't really understand much about him if she was honest, unfortunately for Sakura he had never given the pinkette the time of day.

"Tch! There's no way they'll just leave Sasuke-kun out there...anything could happen to him and he's the last of his clan!" Ino ranted in an attempt to reassure herself more than anything else, it was times like this when she lost her composure that she really came across as a little air headed.  
"Hmm, but my parents always say Naruto is trouble and I shouldn't go near him cause it's not safe, even if he can act so stupid that it hurts, he's just a knucklehead, why would Sasuke-kun leave the village with him of all people?" She questioned the Yamanka with curiosity, the whole situation didn't really make sense to the young cherry blossom, things just didn't add up.

"…Sasuke-kun left the village with his own free will, his home was searched and plans and documents detailing nearly every genin candidate and their potentials were found hidden around the house. I guess Naruto just came out on top, maybe Sasuke-kun saw something that none of us did, he is a genius after all." Ino tried her best to reason, shrugging her shoulders lazily as she tried to make sense of the information herself, she may not look it but she was actually rather intelligent, scoring just a little under Sakura in the academy entry tests.

Sakura shook her head with a soft frown falling across her face, she thought back to all of her run ins with the blonde Uzumaki, he'd been goofy, a complete class clown who would do anything for attention, and from what she knew of Sasuke...he hated giving people attention.  
' _That can't be right!'_ She huffed inwardly, crossing her arms in annoyance there's no way that Sasuke would just leave for good, there had to be more to it than that, she knew Sasuke wouldn't do something childishly like running away to get attention like Naruto might.  
" _Still..._ _why with Naruto of all people?_ " She continued to question herself, she didn't like this at all, she felt her heart tightening at the idea of never seeing Sasuke again, Sakura knew all the girls her age acted this way but she didn't want to just fawn over him, she really wanted to get to know him, to spend time with the raven, not just drool over him, though the pinkette had to admit, she could be quite the fan girl herself.

"Hokage-sama has ordered all of Konoha's shinobi not to attack Naruto or Sasuke-kun without a good reason and firm evidence, so I don't think he wants to kill them or anything like that..." Ino explained thoughtfully, she felt a little pressured to continue when Sakura's eyes fixed intently on her,  
"Y'know 'cuz like some ninjas when they leave their own villages they get ANBU after them to kill them n stuff, Daddy says Sasuke-kun and Naruto are lucky not to be put in the wanted books. I did hear that Hokage-sama has sent tracking ninja after the two of them though, to bring them back here." Ino did her best to explain, sighing softly as she realised Sakura was hanging on her every word looking for a sign of hope.

"That's good right?! Then they'll be brought back here where it's safe, how do they think they'll be able to live outside the village anyway, that's crazy!" Sakura mumbled angrily, still a little in denial at what was happening, it had just been a regular summers day until all this had happened.  
"Didn't you say Sasuke-kun had information about all of the genin candidates? Do you think he might get into trouble?" Sakura asked with a concerned tone, she was having a hard time getting her head around all of this, the pinkette was doing her best to remain calm and resist the urge to cry, never mind understand just what had actually happened. Sakura suddenly paled, worrying her bubbly blonde friend,  
"Wait...you don't think? Sasuke-kun couldn't be a spy right?! That might be why my parents tell me to stay away from Naruto! He might just _act_ like a total idiot so no one gets suspicious!" Sakura started softly as her mind clutched at straws, at the end of her explanation though she was practically yelling at the poor Yamanaka who was beginning to feel a little nervous, Ino hated to admit it but that almost made sense.

"I don't know much about that…I think he was trying to decide who to leave the village with, Daddy said all of his plans were made for two people so it's clear he knew he'd made them for him and Naruto." Ino replied softly, she wished that she understood, just yesterday she had seen the two boys by the pier on the outside of town yet she thought nothing of it, she guessed that Naruto was probably just pestering Sasuke like he pestered most people.  
"Maybe Naruto was just the best candidate? …None of us have seen him fight after all…" Ino considered aloud, almost startled by her own words as they left her mouth, of course this did nothing to calm Sakura's suspicions, it was true, neither of them had seen Naruto fight before.  
"Hmph! Maybe he was the only person who wanted to leave?" Sakura replied with a huff, she really didn't want to start believing that Sasuke was some evil spy, seemingly happy with her own given reason she decided the two of them wouldn't get anywhere bickering about it.  
" Yeah right forehead if Sasuke-kun asked you to go with him you'd be drooling at his feet!" Ino mocked with her normal teasing grin causing the cherry blossom to glare dangerously at her, maybe there was time for a little arguing after all.

Slowly the information leaked across Konoha, many of the young genin candidates were among the first to find out due to their clan heritage and of course Ino's gossiping tendencies, yet most were indifferent or even glad that they had left, seeing Naruto as an annoyance and Sasuke as too much of a challenge though some of the genin were angry, not understanding the reasoning for leaving, they declared the two boys as traitors of Konoha that didn't deserve to be brought back.

"Heh…how troublesome, the village is making such a fuss over two runaways." Shikamaru mumbled lazily with a hint of amusement to his best friend Choji, the boy was snacking happily on some potato chips while nodding to his friend in agreement, he really didn't think it was such a big deal.  
"What's so special about those two anyway!?" The boy asked loudly in between mouthfuls, Shikamaru just sighed deeply in response to that and looked back to the clouds, watching them float by in the brilliant blue summers sky, he was glad he could still have his peace and quiet.

"Oiiii! Have you two heard the news!?" the two heard a familiar voice yell aggressively, followed by the sound of weak barking from the puppy that was laid atop of the canine looking boy,  
' _So much for my peace and quiet...'_ Shikamaru thought with a rather exaggerated sigh, this day was really starting to become troublesome, he'd hoped to avoid any of the gossiping so he could relax.  
"Kiba? Uh…yeah we've heard all about it from our parents." Choji replied casually though the Akamichi was somewhat surprised to see the Inuzuka boy, he never realised he knew where he and Shikamaru would hide away when they didn't want to be bothered.  
"Hmph! How could they just run off like that?! Cowards…no! It's worse than that they just completely bailed on the village that makes them traitors!" Kiba declared angrily to the group who seemed to take no notice of him, he couldn't understand why anyone would just leave Konoha, it was unforgivable to abandon the people that cared for you like that, to an Inuzuka family was everything, people of Konoha were supposed to stick together, just like a good pack should.

"Oi! Shikamaru! What do you think? They should be hunted right?! My mom could find them easily, no sweat at all! She's the best tracker there is!" He yelled enthusiastically trying to engage the lazy Nara but to his disappointment Shikamaru just sighed before speaking  
"Heh, what I think is…you're too noisy."

By now most of the jounin had received word that the two had fled the village, Kakashi Hatake was among those who immediately volunteered to bring back the young Uchiha, there were fears that there could be a rendezvous with Itachi, and other than the Hokage or Jiraiya, Kakashi figured he would be the best option to combat the Uchiha. Yet a bigger part of him was doing this for his beloved Sensei, he felt guilty that Naruto had escaped the village and that he was powerless to help the young blonde.

Despite his attempts, he wasn't able to adopt Naruto as his own, the Hokage had told him that the life of an ANBU captain was a dangerous one, should anything happen to him after taking in Naruto the blonde would have been heartbroken, something of that magnitude may have even weakened the seal. Kakashi sighed heavily into the latest 'Icha Icha' book, of course the silver haired man had applied to step down from his position as captain but that wasn't an instantaneous procedure, he had to finish training and working alongside his ANBU comrades like Yamato who was soon to complete his ANBU initiation.

The training programme had taken over three years to complete but in a couple of days time he would be able to step down from his position as a ANBU commander, meaning he would actually have full rights to claim guardianship over the pained Uzumaki, right now he needed to at least try his best to bring back the poor blonde. Then maybe the two of them could start their somewhat strange family.

Although it was doubtable that Sasuke would want to be re-united with his elder brother after the events of the Uchiha massacre, the Hokage was not convinced, he knew exactly how close Itachi and Sasuke had been merely weeks ago and after reading Fugaku's scroll Sasuke would at least be curious to find out why Itachi did what he did. Hiruzen hoped to hear good news from his tracking squads as soon as possible, he was getting much too old for this.

For the two boys on the run, everything started now.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it!


	4. A New Beginning

Chapter 4: A New Beginning.

* * *

The two runaways paled, something just moved. They stood stock still within the clearing of the earthy forest, they'd stopped momentarily for rest after finally reaching the much thicker, wild forests to the west of fire country. The rustling of leaves from the surrounding foliage came closer along with the murmuring of slurred voices and laughter. Suddenly a group of rough looking men erupted into the clearing, instantly noticing the two runaways, the crowd lit up with evil smirks.  
' _Bandits!'_ The boys thought in alarm, it was too late now though, they'd already been spotted and turning their backs to the men to run probably wasn't a very smart idea. The threatening men lined up in a circle, almost surrounding the much smaller boys, obviously this area of forest wasn't as uninhabited as they had once thought.

" _ **It starts here Naru-chan. Kill them."**_ Naruto felt a strange release of chakra through his body, his senses tingled and a gentle warmth passed throughout his system, Kyuubi's soft, delicate whisper echoed over and over within his mind. His fear had completely left him, all he felt right now was unmovable confidence, he felt untouchable right now, the seductive whispers in his mind were intoxicating, in an almost drunk manner, Naruto slowly turned his head to face his new best friend.

Sasuke was clearly on edge, adrenaline had swarmed his body but that didn't mean he was any less scared, he knew exactly what happened to young children found by bandits, they were worked into the ground as slaves. Still, the Uchiha would rather die than let his fear show, he grit his teeth and clenched his fists until his knuckles turned a milky white, there was no way his journey would end here. He turned to face his blonde partner in crime and suddenly became puzzled, what was up with Naruto? His movements looked fluid like water, it was almost serene, as if his body was moving by itself. Sasuke knew this would be the first time either of them killed, unless their trap had met its mark, but out here they wouldn't get a chance to grieve like most rookies might, this was the wilderness and out here the weak died.

" **Sasuke**..." Naruto's voice travelled across the clearing, the tone of it made the raven jump in surprise, it sounded nothing like the blonde, it sounded feminine and gentle, for some reason the Uchiha could only stare at Naruto in confusion, then, he felt it. Every muscle in his body relaxed, his fears died, his shaking stopped, and a dreamy smile dressed his face, his eyes became half lidded as the intoxicating tone danced around his mind, soothing him like an angels heavenly embrace. This was a genjutsu? A strange phenomenon effected his brain and bodily senses, there had been chakra within Naruto's voice, the raven hadn't even noticed it until it was too late and now he felt too amazing to even care. Whatever this was, he liked it. He glanced forwards, he knew it now, without hesitation he knew that the men stood before him were all about to die.

' _ **You can do it, there's no need to be afraid my child...'**_ The whispers said within their minds, they felt their bodies shudder as a chill tickled down the length of their spine, they could do it?  
' _ **There's no need to worry my angels, I shall protect you.'**_ The whispers of Kyuubi continued, lulling them into a feeling of ultimate calmness, the boys' focus reached new heights as they seemed to be able to sense everything around them, the chirping of birds surrounding them, the buzzing of insects, the silent melody of rustling blades of grass in the summers breeze, it was all clear to them.

' _ **I believe in you...so make me proud.**_ **'** The whispers ordered gently, the boys felt a powerful wave of determination come over them, they didn't know what was happening, and at this point they didn't care, all they knew was that they had to listen to the sickly sweet whispers that intoxicated their bodies with their soothing tones.

"Oi! What the hell are kids like you doin' all the way out here!?" One of the bandits angrily questioned with an irritated scowl on his face, obviously this was their territory, another man joined in before the boys even had a chance to explain, not that they felt like talking right now as the Kyuubi's gentle genjutsu soothed and calmed their nerves.  
"Heh! Looks like we got a couple' runaways! What's wrong? Did Mommy take your toys away!?" A thin but muscular man asked, raising his eyebrows in a mocking way as he glared down at the children who dared to disturb their forest.

The bandits blinked in surprise, the kids were just standing there unmoving with half lidded eyes, the two of them looked drunk, their posture was limp and the way they stood looked as if they might fall over at any given second. What shocked them most however was that they no longer looked scared, nor did they answer to the bandits' taunts.  
"Tch! Well they look fit n' healthy to me! A good couple of workers is what I say!" One of the bandits announced in a gruff but merry voice, the bandits around him cheered loudly in agreement, the more labourers they had, the more time they could sit around drinking without any work to do.  
"You two! If you don't wanna die then get the hell over here like good little brats!" One of the larger bandits called out to them in a commanding tone, he clearly held some sort authority,  
"Hey, Hey, we're nice guys Genji-kun!" The sly, thin man replied in a sickly sweet voice while leaning his arm over the much larger man with a devilish grin as he glanced over at the young boys,  
"Maybe we'll just cut off a limb or two!" He declared with a yell causing the bandits to once again cause an uproar, cheering and shouting in agreement, the majority of them were clearly drunk.

Sasuke held his breath as he glared back at the men looking their way, he hadn't activated his Sharingan as the fight hadn't started yet, but he could feel it coming, it was in the air, the shivers that he felt down his spine only served to excite the young raven and soon he was so focused he could hear his own heart beating.

' _ **Hmhmhm~'**_ The delicate voice gently giggled, to the boys it was the most serene sound they'd ever heard in their lives, it was motherly and loving yet held a fox's cunning and all the seduction of a demon, it was entrancing, there was no way they could resist this melodic genjutsu even if they wanted too.  
' _ **The more you fight, the stronger you will become, power, strength, it will all be yours with just a...little...work.'**_ Kyuubi purred lovingly to them, stretching out her words towards the end of her sentence, the anticipation had sent shivers through their bodies as their ears had perked up, desperate to hear more from the gentle whispers.

If the boys didn't know her, they would of struggled with all their power to resist such a captivating hold, they would have viciously denied her warm whispers and branded her a killing machine that only wished for destruction and killing. Now though they knew, she was one of them, part of their group, their strange little runaway family, they felt the wisdom in her words and the loving motherly care that they seemed to hold, she was helping them.

"Sasuke?..." Naruto once again asked in his trance like tone, the raven peered over to him slowly, still a little surprised by the surreal tone, it felt incredibly calming and care free, as if the blonde hadn't a care in the world. It was exactly how Sasuke felt right now.  
"...Yeah" The raven muttered softly, he became more shocked that his own voice matched Naruto's serene, graceful pitch, yet he couldn't bring himself to care, whatever genjutsu this was, it felt damn good.

Sasuke felt his Sharingan spin to life, crimson flooded his pupils as he gazed over to his blonde friend, now able to see that his chakra was in fact slightly disturbed by a faint red glow, he looked down at his own hands, his eyes danced over his palms as he realised he too had the demonic red chakra within his own system. So it was a genjutsu after all. Sasuke made no effort to dispel it however,  
' _ **Such a good child...so trusting...it makes me so happy.'**_ The voice told him merrily, its tone remaining soft and whisper like, he couldn't help the smile that graced his porcelain features at making Kyuubi happy, for some reason it pleased him.

In their trance the two of them turned to the bandits, focus overtaking their young bodies once again, the bandits looked rightfully confused as they watched the scene unfold,  
"I dunno what the hell you kids are doin' but I guess ya wanna die after all!" The large muscular man, named Genji roared angrily, the clearing exploded once more into aggressive cheers, the sound of metal against metal resounded through the air as the men drawn their weapons. Out here its kill or be killed.

' _ **Kill them.'**_ The gentle voice ordered with ferocity yet still managed to seem almost angelic, the boys immediately rushed the bandits when given the command, the large muscular man, Genji, was on the frontline and swung his claymore like sword, aiming straight for Naruto's midriff. Meanwhile the thin, sly bandit attempted to stab holes in Sasuke with his deadly spear.

The world seemed to slow down to a snail's pace as the attacks approached the small runaways, it felt as if they had all the time in the world to dodge the barely moving attacks, they could even see the after images of the men's weapons, there was no way they could be hit by attacks like this, they were on a completely different level to these bandits.

Then suddenly the rush came, adrenaline flooded their bodies and their hearts sped up, sounds roared to life as the bandits charged them and Sasuke felt a wave of energy rush over him. Before he'd even realised it, he'd knocked away the enemies spear with the palm of his right hand, it had been aiming straight for his heart, the raven then fell gracefully to ground, sweeping the man's legs out from under him with a vicious kick. The sly, thin man fell to the ground with a thud that seemed to echo in Sasuke's mind, he looked down at the pained man who glared up at him in horror, his mouth slightly agape, he didn't even have the chance to speak as Sasuke found a kunai in his hand, spinning it by its ring to ready it for combat. In one swift movement the young raven slashed open the man's throat, making blood erupt from his body, Sasuke felt splashes of it stain his young face yet he made no move to clean it.

Naruto easily saw the sword slowly sailing through the air slashing at the position he used to be in, the blonde easily side stepped, shifting his weight to his left leg in front of him. The world raced back to life and the rush of battle washed over the blonde in full force as Naruto ducked low into the muscular man's guard, he instantly lashed out with a precise elbow to the centre of the man's ribs, knocking the wind out of him. Genji didn't have time to right himself as Naruto's wrist shot up in a firm, controlled motion, striking the much larger man in the nose with a back handed fist, shattering the bone with ease as blood rushed from the man's wound.

Naruto leant back, gracefully drawing a kunai from his well stocked pouch as he did, then with practiced ease, launched it towards Genji who had stumbled backwards against a large tree while holding his broken nose, the large man didn't have chance to react as the projectile pierced windpipe. His eyes widened and became glassy as he desperately choked for oxygen, coughing and wheezing painfully as blood flooded his own throat, Genji fell to his knees, his hands clawing at the kunai in his neck with little success, he slumped to the floor, lifeless as blood quickly pooled around him.

The bandits roared angrily as they saw two of their own die, their battle cry flooded the thick, dense forest as they charged mercilessly towards the two runaways that had killed their friends, they'd have their revenge if it was the last thing they ever did. Suddenly the fight was on and the boys were worked hard to dodge and parry the weapons with their kunai, eventually Naruto and Sasuke were forced to wield two kunai just to keep up and fend off the onslaught of life threatening attacks. The bandits aggressively struck over and over, intending to pressure the two boys until they could no longer defend themselves. Now the option of being slaves was long gone, it was a fight for their life.

 _'Shit! Shit! Shit! We can't die here!'_ Naruto raged desperately as he grit his teeth, pushing forward with his new found determination, after all their hard work there was no way the blonde would back down so easily. New strength shown in his attacks as powerfully knocked back weapon after weapon, hoping to create a large enough opening to counter attack. He glanced over to his raven friend with concern only to see Sasuke doing the exact same thing he was, it was like lashing out in a controlled manner.

Sasuke narrowly dodged a dangerous sword slash from his right side, twisting his body backwards only to watch the blade slice the air just in front of him, his one tomoe Sharingan span desperately in order to help him evade the deadly strikes causing him to leap backwards to the right in order to escape the two spears that threatened to pierce his chest from the front. He was thankfully he remembered never to underestimate the length of a spear, if he'd have jumped straight backwards he'd have been skewered good.

He didn't have the time to appreciate his evasion skills as an enraged bandit slashed at his throat with his deadly dagger, Sasuke countered with his right handed kunai but the man didn't let up, he towered over the young raven and pushed down using his body weight, Sasuke felt the kunai trembling in his grip as he stepped backwards in an attempt to distance the blades from his throat but the bandit stepped forwards pushing him back even further. The Uchiha felt his back impact with the unforgiving bark of one of the mighty trees that surrounded them, his eyes widened in shock but he didn't have time to lose focus.

The man grinned evilly and continue to push against his shaky kunai, Sasuke grit his teeth and with a low growl he glared definitely at the man, he leant forwards in a risky move, shoving the man's dagger upwards and creating an opening in the man's guard. Sasuke twisted his body forwards, bringing his left arm with him, his secondary kunai ready to strike,  
"Die!" The young boy roared with all of his strength, he slashed upwards, dragging his kunai through the man's lower ribs straight upwards, carving through the flesh to the man's pectorals, Sasuke heaved a heavy breath as blood poured from the large open wound, running freely onto his hand.

With no time to recover, Sasuke fended off two strikes instantaneously, he was attacked by a new challenger who wielded two daggers, the man was clearly somewhat skilled and Sasuke was forced to parry over and over with his kunai. The blade dance was constantly being interrupted by spear thrusts aiming to stab Sasuke in a vital area, he worked on dodging, parrying, counter attacking, even going as far as having to use his legs to kick away the less lethal wooden grip of an oncoming spear attack just to give himself some breathing distance.

 _'This...fighting like this! This is insane! I've never worked so hard in my life!"_ Sasuke thought while desperately panting, he saw his opening, another risky manoeuvre that might cost him but its the only chance he was going to get. The dagger wielding bandit had slashed downwards with both weapons, attempting to create an 'X' formation with his blades. Using his much smaller frame, Sasuke ducked into the man's personal space dodging the mans slash, Sasuke brought his kunai up over his small head as he did, then with one final deadly move he stabbed them downwards into the bandit's chest, piercing both of his pectorals.

The muscular man's knees went limp and he slumped down off the kunai and fell mercilessly to the floor swimming in his own blood, sweat poured from the raven as he was forced to roll forwards and to the right in order to duck a swordsman's high slice that was aiming to decapitate him, as he rolled, he twisted his body causing him to fall onto his back behind the man. Sasuke quickly threw the kunai from his right hand (his stronger arm) into the back of the man's head, killing him immediately.

Sasuke paled, his eyes widened in horror, he couldn't dodge. The spear man caught him laying on his back and seized his opportunity, he thrust down at the raven who had no means of defending against the much larger blade of the spear with his smaller kunai, it was over. The spear pierced straight through his skull pinning him to the ground below, blood trickled from the wound and the Uchiha's face frozen in horror, clearly lifeless.

"Gotcha ya little bastard!" The bandit yelled victoriously as he unceremoniously pulled the spear from the dead raven, obviously hoping to help kill the blonde child that continued to threaten his comrades. To his surprise the raven burst into a cloud of smoke and was replaced by the dagger used by one of the other dead men that now littered the clearing, he growled loudly with rage  
"Learn to die you little brat!" He cried out while charging towards the young raven who was now very thankful he took the time to learn the academy jutsu in order to be the best in his class.

Naruto barely managed to evade a spear thrust that would have pierced straight through his cheek, as he lent to his left he felt the fatal blade graze his cheek and winced in pain as the cut opened immediately and the spear passed him by. He leaned into the enemies guard to abuse the spear's disadvantage, they were a long weapon and could be difficult to maneuver with due to their length, especially against a much smaller opponent like the little blonde that was attacking the bandit ruthlessly. Naruto wasted no time in powerfully thrusting his left handed kunai into the throat of his bandit enemy though he had to suddenly kick the man's body free from his blade just in time to parry an oncoming sword slash.

He crossed his kunai in a defensive manner, holding his blades in an 'X' formation to strengthen his guard against the thin blade of the bandit's katana, capturing it within the grip of his kunai to effectively stop the man's attack. Naruto noticed from the corner of his eye in the nick of time that another bandit was charging him, he abandoned his defence and leapt backwards to the left, to buy himself some time and distance, his blonde locks were soaked with signs of his effort, his jacket and combat pants were starting to stick to his body in a way that made movements uncomfortable, he'd never worked himself so hard before, even in his brutal training sessions.

Sasuke was breathing heavily as he downed another opponent, swiftly taking his life, he did his best to recover what little air he could in his moment of rest. Fighting five deadly enemies in a terrifying fight to the death was definitely something he wasn't used to, he wondered idly if this is what Itachi went through, being forced to adapt against opponents looking to end his life, it gave Sasuke a feeling of appreciation for his brothers skills all over again, in fact it made him wonder how the hell Itachi was even still alive.

The young raven had been moving faster than ever before just to survive, he forced strength and power that he didn't know he had into his precise strikes that defended him from lethal weaponry, doing anything he could just to save himself. Every part of him was being tested, he had to block, push back and counter, he didn't even have time to think about ninjutsu and he simply didn't dare use taijutsu as his hands were both occupied with his kunai, still, slowly but surely he was winning, bandits littered the clearing from his and Naruto's small victories. He

All that was left of his opponents was three enraged bandits, one a dagger user and the two spear fighters he'd been fighting since the beginning, the dagger user sprinted at him with surprising speed for a man his size, charging straight for Sasuke. The bandit slashed wildly over and over lashing out dangerously, Sasuke couldn't risk countering or parrying and was forced to leap far away, pushing chakra into his feet as best he could to enhance his jump.

It managed to buy him some distance and he noted the spearmen from the corner his vision, his Sharingan began working overtime like a lock on system as he reached into his well stocked weapons pouch, the raven swiftly pulled out eight of the deadly metal stars, one in between each finger and launched all of them in an 'X' formation. The shuriken raced towards their targets, raining down on the vulnerable spear fighters who had no means of defending against the ranged projectiles with their limited skill. The spear fighters were quickly decorated with the lethal ranged weaponry, the man on the left took a shuriken to his neck near to his shoulder, the center of his pectorals, lower ribs and right thigh. The bandit on the left didn't fare much better, the poor soul even took a throwing star to his right eye, the remaining three stars littered his upper body, not that it mattered though as the two men soon fell to the floor lifelessly.

"You little shit! I'll kill you! I'll definitely kill you!" The enraged dagger wielder snarled angrily, he threw aside any reasoning in his frustration and desperately hurled his dagger at Sasuke with vicious strength. The raven barely managed to dodge to his left and ended up taking a rather nasty cut across his right shoulder, he glanced at it as he winced in pain and fell back a few steps, Sasuke knew he didn't have the time to tend to it and looked back towards his charging opponent.

The lone survivor of the group of bandits that had targeted Sasuke was now wielding the two swords of his fallen comrades, picking them up as he raced towards the much smaller boy that had managed to kill off his friends one by one, though the bandit was not trained in the use of swords he was strong, with the speed to back it up. He launched a frenzy of slashes at the young Uchiha, lashing out with the weapons desperately trying to slice up the raven, who was working insanely hard just to defend his limbs with his dual kunai.

As much as he wanted to, Naruto couldn't even spare a glance to look over to his best friend, he still had his own problems to attend to and wouldn't be given an opportunity to worry about anything but staying alive due to the pressure he was under. Naruto couldn't even create an opening large enough to drop his kunai and form his Shadow Clone technique as attack after attack rained down upon him in an almost fluid motion.

A sword user violently slashed out at him from the front while a spear user had gotten behind him, thrusting dangerously towards the young blonde's heart, Naruto knew if he was struck by that it was game over, relying on his speed Naruto pushed chakra into his legs, he leapt up high into the air only to look down at the spear user cleanly punctured the sword users heart causing the man to drop his weapon and cough up blood before falling limp on the man's spear.

A look of horror fell upon the spear users face as he looked at his friend dead upon his weapon, a shadow fell across his eyes as he slowly removed the spear from the other man, wrenching it from him with the sickening wet sound of blood reaching his ears as he did.  
"...You bastard!..." He growled dangerously, it was packed with murderous intent that Naruto was familiar with even at his young age, Naruto had landed again but was not given the chance to prepare himself properly as his other attackers rushed him, forcing him to block an attack from the left and right, his guard was completely split down the centre and the spear user didn't waste the opportunity. The man rushed straight for him, looking to skewer him and take revenge for his fallen comrades that decorated the clearing.

To the spear man's surprise, Naruto shifted his strength and applied chakra to his arms, managing to push off his much larger attackers that he'd been clashing with. Instantly the young blonde threw his left handed kunai deadly accuracy, it sailed menacingly through the air and embedded itself into the still shocked spear man's skull. The blonde didn't have time to celebrate his small victory as he realized he was now vulnerable on his left side as the bandit's sword slashed downwards at him, Naruto leapt backwards away from his two opponents, narrowly evading the swordsman's blow that would of carved open his upper body.

Without the Sharingan the blonde was relying on sheer instincts, unfortunately, he'd still received more than few cuts that were already in the process of healing thanks to Kyuubi's chakra though he didn't have time to focus on his injuries as the bandits closed in on him once again, he drew another kunai, equipping himself with one in each hand again as the bandits charged him, it seemed as if there was only two of his opponents left.

Sasuke's young body was shaking, he grit his teeth desperately in an attempt to maintain his effort, his small arms were being strained from the constant battering they were taking. The dual sword wielding bandit was ruthless, his attacks striking the raven's guard in a constant flow of hits forcing Sasuke only to parry or risk being sliced up like a pineapple, the furious man didn't even give him a chance to counter.

The tiring bandit was finally running out of steam, his slashes became weaker and weaker, sweat covered his body as he grunted angrily, swiping at Sasuke with his swords but the strength had left his arms, at this point he was powered by determination alone, waving his swords lifelessly at his enemy simply wishing the small raven boy would die. Sasuke continued to parry with his two kunai, feeling it becoming easier and easier to defend himself as the haggard man seemed to be struggling to even stay standing at this point.

Sasuke took his chance, not wasting any time he struck through the weak strikes with ease, his two kunai slashing aside the much longer sword blades as he lunged forward inside the man's guard, the sluggish bandit could only stagger backwards in horror, dropping his swords as he did. The Uchiha didn't spare him, he charged forwards fearlessly and drove his kunai into the man without mercy, his eyes locked on to his weapons that now pierced the man's chest.

The small raven shuddered, he felt the warm liquid trickle from the man's wound, it traveled down his blades and seeped onto his tiny hands covering them in thick crimson blood, the young Uchiha stared at his hands with frightful eyes, now that his battle was over he had time for it all to sink in. He took a second to gaze up at the man's lifeless face, shuddering slightly as he became fully aware of what he'd done, not only had he took his first kill, he'd took many. Sasuke looked around the clearing in a moment of realisation, bodies coated in their own blood decorated the ground unceremoniously it was a shocking sight for his young mind, clearly alot to take in.

Sasuke gulped with dread, his breath hitched as he pulled his kunai free from the now dead man, the sound of tearing flesh doing little to ease his currently tormented mind. He frowned with determination as he realised the battle wasn't over yet, the raven didn't have time for concern for his fallen enemies, Naruto was still fighting but by the looks of things the small blonde had managed to finish off another of his opponents while Sasuke had been pre-occupied himself. The small Uchiha watched on as a fully grown man was desperately back stepping away from his best friend, the blonde clearly had the upper hand as the bandit slashed wildly letting out shrieks of fear as he did.

Seeing the man's sorry state Naruto leapt backwards, hurling his kunai with force as he did, they flew through the air with deadly precision each aiming directly for the bandit's throat. The horrified man had no choice but attempt to hold his ground, he readied his sword and stood firm, with a lucky slash he manage to deflect the first projectile but the second was right behind the first, for a man of his skill it just wasn't possible for him to defend himself again so quickly.

The second blade hit its mark, piercing the man's throat like paper, the terrified bandit could only drop his sword, falling to his knees as he struggled to breathe, on instinct his hands reached desperately for the kunai that destroyed his windpipe but it was hopeless, it was already over. The man fell lifelessly to the ground just as his comrades had, the clearing was now littered with bodies and spilt blood, it didn't take a trained tracking team to realize what had happened here.

Naruto lent over, resting his hands on his knees as he panted heavily, his hair sweaty and his clothing just as drenched yet he managed to shoot a tired grin over to the Uchiha, only managing to lift his head up for a few moments, Sasuke walked over to him just as exhausted, his Sharingan fading as he didn't want to waste anymore chakra. Sasuke stretched out his hand with a victorious smirk as he collected himself, still breathing heavily. Naruto let out a tired laugh, breathing in between his chuckle while strongly taking the Uchiha's hand in his own, pulling himself to stand upright. To the raven's surprise, after they locked hands, the young Uzumaki dragged him with some force, making him stumble closer, after that Naruto casually threw his arm over the raven's shoulder, letting the two lean on each other for support.

"W-We...did it..." The blonde managed to gasp out, shooting an exhausted foxy grin at his partner in crime, the Uchiha gave him a firm nod while drinking in oxygen, his eyes almost closed as the two of them walked over to a nearby tree that they could rest under, they'd earned a break after all. They slumped against it, sliding down it slowly and thumping down on the soft grass below, just being able to sit down helped their tired muscles as they tried to collect themselves.

"O-Out here...fighting like this, that was harder than...anything I've ever done." Sasuke stated in his exhaustion, he was sat upright, lazing back on his hand and tipping his head backwards as he allowed the sweat to drip away from his features. The blonde merely nodded in response deciding it would be better to recover before speaking again though despite their fatigue the two had victorious smiles plastered on their faces; overcoming such a gruesome battle of life and death was never an easy thing, their rest was certainly well deserved.

" _ **The more you fight, the stronger you will get, after this fight you'll feel stronger than ever, there is no training that can match fighting for your life."**_ Kyuubi explained sternly to the two runaways who had decided to enter the mindscape to enjoy their moments of peace. The warming breeze that rolled through the mental landscape was a relaxing sensation that made them never want to leave. The kyuubi wrapped up the two boys in her tails hugging them like they were her most precious belongings, she was proud of them and it shown, but more than anything she was relieved that the two of them had survived without major injury even if she had full confidence in them.

" **Sasuke, I shall make entering the mindscape easier for you, so you may de-activate your Sharingan.** " Kyuubi spoke softly; the raven looked at her curiously, though by now he fully trusted the great fox, she'd aided them in their escape after all, he doubted they would have gotten this far on their own. He knew the basics of how to avoid trackers but it was nothing compared to her.  
"There's a way I can enter the mindscape without using my Sharingan?" He questioned, it would make things easier he supposed, his brows raising in curiosity at the concept.

" **That's right; it will also allow me to bring you into the mindscape when I feel the need to do so. Give me your paw."** The kyuubi instructed casually, earning a look of confusion from the Uchiha.  
"Paw? …" He asked incredulously "Hand." He stated correcting her with a frown, the raven had his dignity, he wasn't about to let Kyuubi start talking to him as if he was a common house dog.  
" **Hand, paw, whatever. Give it here."** Kyuubi commanded a little embarrassed with her mistake, it wasn't her fault that she hadn't had all that much interaction with humans, in fact to her it wasn't even a big deal, it was just a paw.

Sasuke moved his hand close to the fox, interested in what she would do next, to his surprise she gently bit down on his hand between his thumb and pointing finger. A small amount of red chakra flown from her teeth into the wound, then she released his hand from her jaws.  
" **There, that should do it.** " She said merrily then looked over at the young blonde who was sniggering cheekily at something, he was clearly amused by the situation as he looked between the great fox and his new best friend who seemed just as confused as Kyuubi right now.  
" **W-What is it?** " She asked a little flustered; it felt as if they were making fun of her somehow, a frown had graced her foxy features even as she tried to remain composed.

"Hey Sasuke, you better get a bandage from your backpack, your paw is bleeding!" Naruto joked childishly before erupting into laughter at his own joke, surprisingly it was followed by a weak chuckle from the raven. The Kyuubi scowled deeply letting out a huff of irritation, her tails swished around in a menacing manner, they promised pain to whoever was causing her anger.  
" **We'll see who has the last laugh when it comes to your training!"** The fox scoffed angrily causing Naruto to let out a rather audible gulp, he remembered just how brutal his training had been growing up, he hated to think what Kyuubi would make him do now that they no longer had to worry about the villagers interrupting them or finding him exhausted and unable to move.

"Training? What's so bad about training?" Sasuke asked innocently, feeling somewhat out of the loop, he had always enjoyed training as he'd grown up, something about the challenge and feeling of growing stronger made him feel proud of his efforts. The raven then caught sight of the horrified look on the blondes face, a concerned scowl fell over his face, he'd never seen Naruto act this way.  
"Naruto? … Are you okay?" He asked quietly, confused by the new situation that was currently unfolding, how could something be so bad that it made Naruto look like he'd seen a ghost?  
"You have no idea…its torture…" He said with mock upset, leaving Kyuubi to be grinning with pride, her tails now swishing around in a much more energetic way as she puffed out her chest.

" **That's right! I'll be training the both of you more severely than you've ever been trained, so you had better be ready, my boys will be strong whether they like it or not."** Kyuubi announced happily, seemingly forgetting about the teasing that had taken place, Sasuke let out a trademark 'Hn.' The raven still didn't fully understand just how biting his hand would allow him to enter the mindscape.  
"What did you do to my hand Kyuubi?" He asked with interest while staring down at the small bite mark just above the knuckle of his thumb, the bleeding had somehow already stopped making him even more curious of just what had happened to him.

" **This is the mindscape, it isn't just some imaginary domain, to enter it you must see into ones soul, not only that but when you enter this place it is not simply your mind but your soul, there is a clan in Konoha who specialize in the traversing of one's mind, I assumed you may be knowledgeable of such techniques. The Yamanaka can even forcibly posses someone with their own souls, something to be cautious of should we ever run into one..."** Kyuubi stopped herself, realising she was going off on somewhat of a tangent as she attempted to filter through her seemingly boundless knowledge, she gave a playful smirk to the boys as she realised how to explain it in a simple manner.

" **Basically I infused your soul with my chakra, not your body, with this we're linked in a similar way that Naruto and myself are. This means you should be able to draw on that connection to enter this place, in turn it also allows me to draw on that link, meaning I can drag you here whenever I'd like."** She finished with an almost scary smile, for some reason Sasuke had the feeling that maybe he should be worried about the training he was going to be forced to take part in.

" **Now however is not the time to rest any longer, we don't know how close your trackers currently are, it's time to move."** She ordered sternly, the two runaways weren't in the clear yet, she knew just how tenacious hunter teams could be, sometimes chasing enemies across multiple countries before giving up. They nodded at her words of wisdom, opening their eyes and returning to the death filled clearing, blood stained the forest floor turning the grass a dark crimson colour. It would be difficult to cover all the evidence in a short period of time. The boys found themselves instantly missing the feeling of being gently held by Kyuubi, it was a lot less stressful in the mindscape than their current problem after all.

"Hn. What are we supposed to do with all these bodies?" Sasuke quickly alerted Naruto, his tone as urgent as he could manage as he glanced around their last battlegrounds. The blonde looked at the all corpses that decorated their surroundings, a frown fell across his features, they really didn't have any more time to waste sitting here, since they had entered the thicker forests they had avoided stopping to cover their trails, choosing to simply cover as much ground as possible instead.

"We set a fire to the whole area! It's the only way, we have to get moving, the hunter nin could be here at any minute!" Naruto panicked while doing his best to think clearly, the reality of being run-aways suddenly hit them full force as they realised that while they had been fighting their pursuers had surely been catching up. Their moment of relaxation and unfortunate run in with the bandits may have just caught them everything that they had worked for, while they still had their chakra as their combat with the bandits had been mostly with kunai alone, they doubted that it would help them much in a contest with trained hunter nin, especially if they were high ranking ANBU.

"It'll still leave a trace…" Sasuke mused with annoyance but before the blonde could interrupt, the Uchiha spoke again, remembering one of the basic lessons that Itachi had taught him about clearing up any evidence of a battle, it was something the older Uchiha had used often during war time.  
"Collect all of the weapons you used, we can drop them in the river up ahead, they should float downstream and wash off any traces of us." He hurriedly ordered with a concentrating glare, they couldn't let their emotions get the better of them in a situation like this, they had to be calm and methodical if they wanted to succeed, they had to act like true ninja.

Naruto just nodded a hasty affirmative and the two immediately went to work looting their weapons from the corpses of their enemies, they also collected the weapons used by the bandits before Sasuke flipped through hand seals activating his technique.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu (Fire style: Fireball jutsu)" The raven announced suddenly. A large fireball rocketed from the young boy's mouth and soon the whole area was a blaze with a small fire, lighting up the bodies that had fallen in combat. Without wasting any time they raced towards the river for the next part of their plan, they had to rid the area of their trace, they could only hope that it would be enough. Though they realized now that the smoke acted like a beacon, it drifted high above the trees into the stunning blue sky above, painting it a murky grey a clear indication of human presence, still they didn't have the time to worry about it.

"Hmm..." The Hokage contemplated with concern, he had figured that by now the two young runaways would have been located and brought back to the village safe and sound despite whatever resistance they may have, the tracking team Hiruzen sent was one of their best, it was almost worrying that they had not been retrieved by now. It was already late into the second day of their disappearance, with a deep, grumbling sigh the Hokage could only hope that Uchiha Itachi had not aided his younger sibling's escape.

" _Perhaps I underestimated them..."_ The old Hokage sighed genuinely disappointed that they hadn't been brought back to the village, they would have made a great asset to Konoha, Sarutobi knew the two would grow fearsomely strong and right now he could only pray that they were vindictive otherwise the village hidden in the leafs may have problems in the future. In his wisdom he knew that once a ninja wished to leave their village there was no turning back, dragging them back and forcing their allegiance would only make them hate Konoha. If they truly wished to leave he couldn't stop them.

" _I'm sorry Minato…it seems I was unable to fulfil your last wish, the villagers turned against your child and have even managed to drive him away... I should have been more defensive of the boy."_ The third thought solemnly, he would miss the blonde and the Uchiha too to an extent, though he didn't know the raven anywhere near as well, he liked to believe that he cared for all of the children in the village, they were the precious next generation, those that would next carry the will of fire.

The information that the two young boys had left together had already spread across the village like wildfire, even though Sasuke's notes and planning didn't mention Naruto, all other evidence found suggested that the two had definitely left together, the blonde's small apartment had also been raided with similar plans to the Uchiha's being found stored away in various hiding places. At least this would stop the raging council from pinning the whole thing on Naruto, sometimes it made Hiruzen consider how effective diplomacies really were.

The civilians had been restless, complaining about matters they had no knowledge of, to them the village had lost one of its many beacons of strength, once they had found out the last Uchiha had escaped the walls of the village they were furious and demanded that he be captured immediately. To them it simply wasn't acceptable for the last member of such a prestigious clan to leave the village, Naruto on the other hand they were more than happy to be done with, they had happily announced that they were glad to be free of such a burden, some had even gone as far as to wish that the small boy was already dead, showing just how malicious they were towards the boy.

The tracking team continued on tirelessly, they were still doing their best to find the young runaways even after spending almost two days straight looking for them without much rest, right now they were running on food and soldier pills and even then they were getting low on reserves. In conditions like this each time they lost their trace became increasingly annoying though they remained confident in finding the little brats.

Just hours ago they had followed the trail into the much thicker forests of west fire country, it had thrown them off at first and they almost believed it to be a trick until they realised just how deep the scent had lead them. Tsume had of course grumbled about the two small runaways, wondering when they would just give up and come back home quietly, still they carried on, dashing through the tree tops of thick earthy forests without any signs of slowing down.

It didn't take long for them to come across a clearing, to their surprise it was charred black, the grass and surrounding trees were scorched with vicious burns and the smell of death was thick in the air, ash littered the grass along with the burnt remains of bodies that had been killed not so long ago. There was definitely a fight here. It seemed as if the two runaways had managed to take on a much larger group of bandits though with the smell of burning bodies, blood and ash in the air it was difficult for Tsume to get a clean scent.

"No doubt about it, this was our boys! Let's keep it movin'!" Tsume ordered with authority, her ANBU squad didn't waste any time in stopping for rest and once again leapt to the trees waiting for further instruction from the proud Inuzuka clan head, she gave a feral grin.  
"I smell a river up ahead, no doubt the little brats went that way to try n' throw us off again!" She yelled back to her squad as they raced along the thick branches of the seemingly unending forest.

The two young runaways sat slumped under a colossal tree, they had ran for miles upon miles, the night sky was filled with stars that shone down on them while lighting up the dark, navy blue sky, there was a line of thin grey clouds in the air but no signs of rain. The moonlight beamed downwards, illuminating segments of the proud forest around them but right now they needed to rest if they planned to continue.

"Hn. If they find us now it's game over." Sasuke commented offhandedly, letting his head slump back against the solid tree they sat against, his midnight locks were stained with sweat and his clothes clung to him uncomfortably. The blonde simply looked at him as if thinking for a moment, a large grin blessed his features, he was just as tired and had somehow become covered in dirt.  
"At least we gave it our best! We managed to get pretty far, don't you think?" He questioned with a cheeky chuckle causing a smirk to reach Sasuke's face at his friend's enthusiasm.

"I suppose we have…I don't know why, but I almost feel like the search party won't reach us for a while yet, I think there would probably have been more signs of them getting closer." The Uchiha thought aloud, it was unlikely that they'd be completely unaware of a team of hunter nin that had no reason to conceal their presence. Naruto nodded his agreeing with the statement as a puzzled expression fell across his face, he was honestly surprised they hadn't been caught by now.

"Maybe the old man is looking out for us?" Naruto asked kindly as he remembered some of the times he'd spent with the third Hokage before he flashed the Uchiha a foxy grin.  
"Hn, I wouldn't be so sure about that after reading my father's scroll." Sasuke replied angrily, why would anyone from the village help him? They wanted him dead; he was an Uchiha after all, he struggled to imagine anything positive coming from Konoha anymore, to him that was nothing more than where his home used to be.

"What do you mean Sasuke? Were people in the village horrible to you as well?" Naruto asked innocently, not fully understanding what the raven was talking about, he'd been told briefly about Sasuke's clan and Fugaku's scroll that was left to the raven for his eighth birthday but some of the details had been glossed over.

"The Uchiha massacre was an order given to my brother. Itachi was innocent; he was forced to choose between letting the Uchiha wage a war or kill his own family. Only the Hokage could an issue an order like that." Sasuke explained angrily, clenching his fists and scowling at the ground, that village had almost poisoned his mind, he was nearly turned against his brother.

"Hmmm…" Naruto thought for a moment, as if thinking how to explain something to the boy,  
"I don't think old man Hokage would do something like that…he really hates killing, and he told me he's like a grandpa to everyone in the village!" Naruto spoke happily, whenever he'd been around the old Hokage he'd wondered about what it was like to have his own family, having someone to take care of you and show you guidance was something the blonde had always longed for.

"If anything I think it was probably the council. They're the worst kind of people, same for the elders too, and that Danzou guy! the council all tried to have me killed lots of times but old man Hokage wouldn't let them. He told me to be careful around that creepy Danzou person; he said that he is a man who loves war. The third also told me that Danzou sometimes gave orders to the Anbu too…maybe it was that guys fault." Naruto explained while deep in thought, he looked over to the raven that seemed to be surprised about something as if the young Uzumaki had struck a nerve.

"Him! It must have been him! My father's scroll mentioned that Danzou was a man who was not to be trusted, that he was someone that wanted rid of the Uchiha clan, if what you said is true then he may have had the support of the elders and the council…surely with that much authority even the Hokage couldn't stop them." Sasuke replied thoughtfully as everything began to make sense to him, he had to stop himself from thinking about Konoha any longer, Itachi had sacrificed everything for the village and right now the small raven wished he could destroy it himself, he didn't want his older brother's sacrifice to be for nothing.

"I will have revenge for my clan when the time is right…" He thought aloud with a frown, his eyes closed deep in thought, he glanced upwards at the stars as if questioning something before turning to the blonde as he received a nod of support, Naruto sensed the need to change the subject,  
"I don't know if we're still being tracked or not, but we should sleep if we plan to move again." He offered wisely, it wouldn't be long until they were found, he guessed they would only get a few hours rest but that was better than nothing, they needed all the energy they could get.  
"Hn, you're probably right, Kyuubi should be able to wake us if anything goes wrong." Sasuke explained, now that he could hear the nine tails speak just like Naruto the two shouldn't have had a problem with waking up, the blonde only nodded an affirmative then nuzzled into the large tree that sheltered them, obviously hoping to get as much rest as possible. With a huff the Uchiha decided he should do the same, rolling on his side to avoid the moon's light, he had a worrying feeling he wouldn't be sleeping for very long.

" _ **They're coming! Time to go you two."**_ Kyuubi alerted sternly, the boys snapped up to attention clearly on edge from the immediate wake up but made no noise as they jumped to their feet. The two glanced over to each other to ensure all was well before nodding to each other, the hunter's were so close that they could even sense their chakra, for their rather limited sensing capabilities (not taking into account Kyuubi's own) this was a cause of worry.

"Tch! Come out, come out where ever you are brats! I can smell ya! There ain't no hidin' from this nose!" Tsume yelled out, her voice echoing through the silent, thick forestry, instantly Naruto and Sasuke paled, they wasted no more time and immediately raced off, kicking up leaves and breaking sticks as they sprinted as quickly as possible.  
"Ha! So that's where you are!" Tsume gave a feral grin and leapt after them almost instantly closing half of the distance as she burst past the tree they had only recently been sleeping under, the boy's didn't even turn back as they heard her rushing after them.

"Me n' Kuromaru are goin' on ahead!" She roared back to her ANBU squad that were still looking around in the now shrinking forest behind her, Naruto and Sasuke were using their much smaller bodies to run under branches or foliage that Tsume couldn't, constantly making her take slightly longer routes as the ran through the outskirts of the forest.

"This way!" Naruto yelled out, grabbing Sasuke by his right arm, the two ducked under two trees that had somehow grown together forming a tiny arch way that even they had to crawl under just to squeeze through. Naruto had leapt under first, dragging the raven with him who was only just squishing the rest of his body through the tiny gap, that's when they heard her shout.  
"Get 'em Boy!" then from out of nowhere Kuromaru came scrambling through the hole, hot on their tails as he barked out his war cry which only made the situation a hell of a lot scary for the two young runaways.

"Holy crap! Nice Doggy!?" Naruto yelled back desperately, he turned his head as he did, taking sight of the huge wolf like dog that was closing the distance between them as they continued to scramble through trees, bushes, tiny gaps and doing everything they could to try and maintain some sort of safe gap between them and the hell hound.  
"Ain't nothin' nice about me pup!" Kuromaru roared out with what Naruto imagined was a dog's version of a victorious smirk, Naruto only thrown more chakra to his legs, dragging the raven with him as he did.

"What the hell!? Why can it talk!? Why does it talkkkk!?" Naruto whined desperately while running as fast as his little legs could manage, Sasuke snatched his arm free from the blonde's grip with an angered expression, though he too was running desperately for his life as they had to swing around trees, quickly changing their direction time and time again, if they tried to out run Kuromaru in a straight line they'd be caught immediately, the only thing that was saving them was their unpredictability.  
"Shut up idiot! Focus on running!" Sasuke commanded in annoyance, this time he grabbed the blondes arm, sending chakra to his legs he leapt as high as possible taking the two of them up to the thick tree tops above.

"Tsume! In the trees!" Kuromaru informed instantly, while he was capable of following he was nowhere near as fast as Tsume could be at racing through the tree tops, his specialty was in ground pursuits much like a police dog. Tsume launched herself into the trees with a determined smirk, after all of their hard work she wasn't going to let the little brats get away no matter what, her squad had almost died during this hunt after all, the trap they had ran into was nothing short of deadly.

"Captain!" The ANBU yelled stoically as they fell into line with Tsume, racing along the treetops after the young runaways who were desperately jumping from tree to tree, they kept changing directions, swinging around tree branches seemingly at random and leaping off in a completely opposite direction, it was making it difficult for the ANBU to use their speed to their advantage.  
"Tch! Little brats are damn good at runnin' away! Just wait till I get my hands on you!" The Inuzuka clan head roared as she chased after them.

By now they were once again deep in the giant forests, Naruto and Sasuke were panting horribly, they couldn't maintain this speed for long and the ANBU were slowly gaining, not only that but they were now heading in a straight line.  
"Sasuke, I got an idea!" Naruto yelled quickly, he surged forward a little, racing past the confused raven who did his best to hurry after his best friend, Tsume watched on in interest as her squad was closing the gap, there was now only around two hundred meters between them.

Suddenly to her surprise she watched the blonde yank the Uchiha out of the air, pulling them both behind one of the larger trees, hiding behind it as cover, Tsume grinned viciously, the brats must have been getting tired, there was no way they could keep this up.  
"We got ya now brats! Just give up n' come home! Huh?!" Tsume had cried out, hoping they'd come peacefully then they had managed to shock her once more, she watched the two boys throw kunai into a high branch to the left of them in one of the nearby trees, it seemed as if they'd thrown the weapons with excessive force as they were well embedded in the bark of the injured tree.  
"Givin' up huh!? Smart idea!" Tsume smirked with a feral expression, until the two boys revealed themselves, running along the tree branch they were stood on as fast as possible, her eyes widened as they leapt into the air.

"Hold on!" Naruto yelled out in fear as the two boys didn't fall to the ground like Tsume imagined they would, to her surprise they swung at a terrifying speed around the tree,  
"Ninja wire!?" Tsume questioned aloud as she watched the two hurtling through the forest using their kunai and steel wire as a form of grappling hook, the launched themselves around the trees putting a large distance between them as and the ANBU as they swung lower towards the forest floor.

"Let's go Sasuke!" She heard the blonde yell happily as her enhanced dog like ears picked up the sounds of them running off into the distance, she grinned once again, the little brats were proving to be an amusement but her team had dealt with far worse than something like this.  
"Nice try brats but it'll take more than that!" She roared competitively and her squad soon followed her, this time they were able to leap through the tree tops in a straight line as the two runaways had to navigate the forest floor below, seemingly too tired to continue jumping across the large tree tops.

They'd closed the gap completely, they were so close that Kuromaru could practically taste them, and unfortunately for the small runaways, they'd ran out of forest as they had rushed through the trees not realising the direction that the trees were thinning out. Tsume watched as the two of them barrelled through the last trees of the forest and into a small clearing, she leapt down from the tree tops pouncing down into the clearing herself, the Inuzuka clan head realised the two of the had stopped completely still in their surprise.

As soon as they noticed her presence they turned around in alarm, looking as if they were going to attempt to run again when Tsume stuck her hands on her hips in a proud manner.  
"Don't even try it kiddos, you're done. You did well to last so long ya little brats." She commanded sternly, walking closer to them as she spoke, to her surprise Sasuke leapt back, grabbing Naruto's arm as he did, pulling the blonde along with him. The Uchiha got into a flimsy looking taijutsu stance.  
"We can still fight!" He declared bravely, to his dismay though the blonde only chuckled weakly while staring at Kuromaru, sweat racing down his face.  
"...There's no way in hell i'm fighting that dog!" He declared pointing at Kuromaru with a shaky finger causing his raven friend to deflate with an annoyed sigh, though he knew that Naruto was right, they were well and truly caught now, they had no means of getting away and they knew it.  
"Hn. Fine. You got us." Sasuke spat, looking away and folding his arms in defeat while Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, not risking taking his eyes of Kuromaru who seemed to be grinning at him.

"Heh, act tough all you want kid, we can sense your chakra you know, and just for your information, you got barely any left in you!" She smiled smugly, clearly amused by Sasuke's irritated frown that had crept across his features, she always did like teasing the young ones especially her Kiba.  
"S-So are we in alot of trouble?...heh, heh." The young Uzumaki nervously questioned causing Tsume to sigh, she realised now more than ever that she really was just dealing with a couple of kids that were too far from home, Uchiha or not, jinchuriki or not, they were still only seven.  
"Tch, c'mon squirt, you're ridin' with me." Tsume ordered affectionately as she picked up Naruto in a piggy back style, the blonde held on and gave mischievous foxy grin that she couldn't help but smile at, the young raven however was far less happy with his current arrangement of being carried by one of the ANBU.

"I can walk fine on my own!" He resisted fiercely but the ANBU paid him no mind, as long as the little brat didn't get violent he didn't care if he complained about his situation, as if aware of this Sasuke gave a 'hmph' folding his arms and holding on to his escort back to Konoha.  
"I gotta admit it, you two are slippery little brats, if it had been any other hunter team you'd of probably gotten away! Still you gave us a real good work out!" The Inuzuka clan head announced, pushing her hand through her hair in pride, she knew that she was Konoha's best tracker after all.  
"Hn. Not slippery enough apparently." Sasuke replied stoically clearly not enjoying himself as much as his blonde counterpart who was now enjoying just how fast Tsume and her team could rush through the tree tops back to Konoha.

It hadn't taken the boys long to settle down and accept their position, they remained silently as three hours passed, by now they were far, far away from the forests they had been running through, with the ANBU squad being able to race forward in a straight line without stopping they had covered a hell of alot of ground, soon they would even meet the main road that headed straight towards Konoha, a path usually taken by merchants or returning ninja that had been away on missions, it would still be a couple of hundred miles till returning but they were likely to return to Konoha within a few more hours, though if the ANBU stopped to rest, which was likely, then it would be the following day that they reached the village.

"Well it was really nice to meet you Tsume-san!" Naruto suddenly announced causing the clan head to smile happily, she turned her head around to meet the blonde who was cheerfully beaming at her  
"Well, you're not so bad yourself brat!" She managed to give a grin that only looked partially terrifying then turned around again to concentrate on speeding along with the rest of her squad,  
"Maybe we'll meet again! Bye-bye!" Naruto announced mischievously causing Tsume to stop in her tracks, she turned instantly but it was then that it happened.

Naruto and Sasuke burst into clouds of smoke, shocking the whole squad that had now stopped in surprise completely unaware what was going on, it took moments of silence before Tsume erupted  
"Ahhhh!? What the hell!? Where did the damn brats go!?" She panicked, she couldn't smell them anywhere nearby, in her shock she turned to Kuromaru yet he too looked stumped,  
"Those were...shadow clones?" One of her ANBU members spoke up bravely, no one liked getting in Tsume's way once she got angry and if the fierce growling sound she was making was any indication then she was definitely angry.

"No one told me they could use shadow clones!?" She barked out in irritation though her ANBU team members looked just as hopeless, they shrugged their shoulders, clearly this was news to them,  
"Still...when the hell could they have switched? Tch...I know the Uzumaki kid was supposed to have huge chakra reserves, but to make two clones that could last three hours is no small feat. Hmph! To think I figured they were just runnin' low." Tsume cursed herself at her inability to realise what was going on then all of a sudden her face fell into a dumb founded expression.

"They were the god damn kunai!?" She suddenly announced to her team's surprise, not fully understanding what she was talking about they looked over at her like she'd grown a second head,  
"Captain?" One of them tried weakly, hoping for some kind of enlightenment on the situation that had the team completely stumped, it wasn't often that something like this happened to trained hunter nin, especially not some of the best in Konoha's arsenal.  
"The one's in the tree! They swung past us in the forest after hiding behind that damned tree! They were henged into the god damned kunai! How the hell do two brats come up with something like that?! And better yet, why the hell didn't we realise!?" The ANBU officer flinched at her tone, she was mad alright, she was even waving her arms around animatedly in her frustration, he had a feeling he'd be hearing her ranting all the way home, there was no way they were finding those brats now, by the time they travelled all the way back to the forests they'd be exhausted and the lead would be well and truly dead.

"How are we supposed to explain this to the Hokage?" An ANBU member asked innocently, Tsume immediately whirled on him with a horrifying growl causing him to yelp in surprise,  
"We underestimated the little brats! There's nothin' we can do about it now so we might as get movin'!" She yelled furiously then took off at top speed clearly venting her irritation, the rest of her squad weren't feeling brave enough to question the angry clan head and decided to follow her in silence.

"Thanks Kyuu-chan! Without your chakra there's no way I could of made clones last that long!" Naruto announced happily, he'd just received the information from the clones, showing that they had just poofed out of existence, he almost couldn't believe that his plan had worked, though he had to admit, if they weren't so young and Tsume and her squad had treated them like real, dangerous enemies, there little trick would have been spotted immediately, for once he was actually happy that someone had underestimated him.

" _ **Still...with this it seems we're free, at least for now. The two of you have done extremely well. I'm proud of you."**_ Kyuubi replied sweetly, her voice purring in their ears causing them to smile happily at the praise, well, smirk happily in Sasuke's case.  
"Hn, we couldn't have done it without your help." The raven admitted, pushing aside his pride for a moment to show his thanks, Naruto just gave a cheeky grin to his best friend, throwing his hands casually behind his head.  
"Looks like we can relax for a while!" He announced happily with a foxy smile, for the first time in the past two days he felt truly relieved, like he was no longer in danger of being dragged all the way back to Konoha and having everything he and Sasuke had worked for be ruined, they were finally free.

" _ **Hmph. I hope you have forgotten about your training."**_ Kyuubi replied sternly, the blonde paled once again, letting out a rather unceremonious groan of pain which caused Sasuke and the fox to let out a chuckle, for once the three of them felt at peace, like this was just the start of their adventures.

* * *

Hope you liked it!

Really happy with the way the re-write for this chapter went, added alot more depth and excitement going from 3,906 words up to a rather crazy 11,777! I'd love to hear what people think as always, thanks for reading!


End file.
